Darkness
by VidielSilverbane
Summary: Two girls. One Bat brings them together only to dump them into the midst of Young Justice. What will happen, and how will secrets unfold? My collaboration story with Synk! OCs. T for Language. Eventual RobXOC, and other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N:_

_Hey-o! It's Vid, and I'm here with Synk!_

_Yes, that is right, this is a collab._

_Woohoo!  
So, in this collaboration, we will be doing every other chapter, switching between our two OCs. My chapter's are odd, Synk's are even. Altogether, I really hope it's going to be epic._

_So bear with us? Please?_

_Note: I know that Orrick is a real place in Mizzou. It's a nice little place. I was there a few weeks ago on my way to Rayville. I apologize for the seeming "Missouri hate", but I really just needed a complete 180 to Gotham. I love Mizzou. Most of my paternal side of the family lives there. So, no hard feelings? Good? Good._

_**This = flashback**_

* * *

Darkness: Chapter One:  
~First Person POV~

Flat, green, wind.

Those are the only things that could describe Orrick, Missouri. Or any part of the state, for that matter. It had a population a little over 800, a school, a bank, and a few store-things. I honestly didn't know what Orrick had. I was too busy missing Gotham.

Yeah, that's right. Gotham. What could I say? I'm a city girl. Or, I was. Then my parents had a fight and my mom swept me off to the middle of nowhere where the fanciest car is a Ford Fusion and people drive tractors on the roads. And the Fusion's my mom's car.

No offense to Missourians, but that's how I saw it.

We wound up living with my mom's brother and sister-in-law. I couldn't understand a word they said half the time. And they kept using terminology like I knew what they meant by 'piece' and 'sack'. Well, sack was easier than piece. That took me nearly a month to figure out, because no one would tell me what it was. Again, the city girl in me showing like a man running down a Gotham street naked.

It was _definitely_ safe to say that I missed my industrial home. And my dad.

But most of all, I missed donning the spandex suit. Yes, you are correct in you conclusion.

I am a superhero.

Cape and everything.

It was really cool until I broke my arm a couple months ago – not in costume, mind you – and my mom blew up, causing aforementioned argument. She went postal on Dad – he's a bad influence, I'm going to get jailed or killed, all that jazz. Then she took me away from my home, my life, my other life, _everything_.

It really is true, what they say: heroes have family issues.

Which sucks, 'cause Dad and I used to joke about how we had 'broken the mold'. But I'll save my dad for a later time. I'd rather talk about Batman. Fitting, because he's standing on my doorstep. Yeah.

The Dark Knight was on the other side of my front door.

Why I knew this before he even rang the bell? My wonderful mother went to get the mail, saw him, screamed, and slammed the door in his face.

I asked what was wrong, and she said – and I quote – 'That damn overgrown Bat is at the goddamn door'. Then she stomped upstairs.

"Hey Bats." I said with a smile, opening the door.

"Kat." He replied stoically. Sounds like my real name, doesn't it? Well, it's not. It's my supername. My codename. My alter-ego. Whatever you wanna call it.

I wish I could change it, sometimes. It was so…unoriginal. But my dad picked it out, and he's a fan of simplicity.

"No Boy Wonder this time?" He gave me a small shake of the head.

"Well then, I suppose we can descend to the inner sanctum." I made my way to a wood-paneled sliding door and pressed my left hand against it.

"Recognized as: Elena Spencer." A computerized voice said.

"Hey PAM. Code 507b. Batman." I responded cheerily.

"Access granted: Batman. Welcome." PAM responded, and the door slid open.

"That's new." Batman remarked, and I shrugged.

"Dad installed it. Same program as his HQ."

"Fuse sends his regards." Batman added as he followed me down the dank hallway and an even less inviting stairwell. Fuse was my dad. He blew shit up. Literally. My name was Kat…easy enough to discern.

This is the part where I repeat: Dad's a fan of simplicity. At least in names.

"Good. Now why, exactly, have you graced me with your presence, Batman?" I asked, sitting down Indian-style on my large, pink control chair. Batman opted to stand.

"Now that Robin is in Young Justice and I have more duties with the League –"

"– you need my help in Gotham. Shouldn't you be having this conversation with my mother?" I finished for him.

"She slammed a door in my face." He answered simply, making me laugh. He gave me his signature Bat-glare.

"Sorry, sorry, I get it. Mom's the bad guy. But I can't go behind her back. She catches on quick." Batman nodded and grew silent. I didn't bother him, he was deep in thought.

I liked Batsy. I had known him and Robin for about two years. I tried to get my dad to tell me when he met the Dark Knight. He refused. So I assumed they met a long time ago.

But knowing my dad wasn't why I liked Batman. Batman is straight and to the point. No shit comes from Bats. I liked that, 'cause my dad would always dance around the answers, trying to get me to do it on my own. That's great for math homework. Not so great for taking machine guns apart. Or freeing hostages. That's the only time when he _doesn't_ like simplicity. Kind of annoying.

That's why I would go to Batman whenever I needed a straight answer. Every once in a while my dad would tell me not to bother the Dark Knight, but he didn't seem to mind, so I asked him anyway.

"Where is your mother?" Batman finally asked.

"Upstairs," a crash above us, "Scratch that. She's in the kitchen. Slamming shit around," Batman gave me a glare, "Sorry, _poopy_."

"I'll be right back." Batman said in his gravelly voice before whisking himself up the stairs.

"Oh, god, Bat –" But he was already gone.

"Shit." I muttered, and stared at the console before me.

"Now I know there's some way to turn on a camera in the kitchen…" I trailed off, searching the plethora of buttons. _Bang_. And then shouting.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my…" I frantically started pushing buttons at random. I didn't have a weapons system…or at least, I didn't think so…

Before the screen flickered to life, however, the screaming had stopped and Batman was descending into my little slice of Gotham once again.

"You are returning to Gotham. Pack your things." He stated plainly, watching for my reaction beneath his mask. I met his gaze and nodded once. He returned the nod, and I was almost positive there was a hint of a smile that came with it.

That was how I thanked Batman. He didn't seem one for sentimentals.

"Can you help?" I asked, batting my lashes. The older man before me spun on one heel and stalked to my closet, pulling my nondescript black roll-on behind him.

I immediately jumped up from my chair and dashed after him, not wanting to get glared at for being lazy. He stepped aside so I could get into the closet.

I had turned back to ask him whether I needed to bring everything (AKA ask how long I was staying) when he pulled off the cowl.

"Hi there, Bruce." I said with a typical Spencer shit-eating grin. I found out Batman's identity by accident, believe it or not. Shortly after I started actually going out in the field, I was awoken by a banging downstairs…

_**I crept slowly downstairs after hearing a sound, keeping myself pressed against the wall. My ears strained to pick out signs of life. Halfway down the stairs, however, they didn't need to strain any longer. **_

"_**It's a worrying predicament." A distinct warm tenor was saying. Easily recognized as my father.**_

"_**It's the price we all have to pay, Nicholas." Another voice responded, this one unrecognizable but still vaguely familiar.**_

"_**But I can't – I love her, Bruce. What do I do?" My heart thudded in my chest at the anguished words. Who could Dad be talking about? And who was Bruce?**_

_**I edged to the banister as I ran down my mental list of my father's friends and work acquaintances. I needed a closer look at this 'Bruce'. **_

_**And there he was. Only it wasn't a Bruce. **_

_**It was Batman.**_

…_**Or someone who had the gall to dress up like him and sit in my house at the table.**_

_**It was unlikely, but I wasn't going to rule anything out just yet.**_

"_**There's nothing you can do, Nicholas. It's only a matter of time." Maybe-Batman said.**_

"_**But Bruce –"**_

"_**You can come out now." Maybe-Batman's deep, gravelly voice cut my father off. I gulped and walked slowly down the stairs on shaky legs.**_

"_**Who are you?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Once I was facing the two men, I instantly recognized the real Batsuit, even though I had only met Batman three times before. I clamped a hand over my mouth and felt a hot flush on my cheeks, instantly ashamed of my outburst.**_

_**Sorta-Batman-that-I-was-almost-positive-was-the-real-guy smirked at me.**_

"_**Bruce Wayne. And who might you be?" **_

_**Batman…Bruce Wayne…**_

_**It was then that the magnitude of the situation hit me.**_

_**What was the Dark Knight going to do to me, now that I knew? **_

"_**E-Elena Spencer." I stuttered out.**_

"_**Come here, Elena." Batman – no, Bruce – said, beckoning me with his hand. I hastily made my way over to what I thought was surely impending doom.**_

"_**Why were you eavesdropping?" He asked instead. Taken aback, I looked at his dark eyes, of which he had made level with mine. (I was much smaller than he). **_

"_**I heard a noise – thought it was an intruder – came to investigate…I'm sorry, sir." **_

"_**Elena, you cannot tell **_**anyone**_** who I am, or anything else you heard. Do you understand?" I nodded furiously.**_

"_**Yes, Batman, sir." I could have sworn he chuckled when I said sir. I glanced at my dad, who was looking on with sympathy.**_

"_**Nor can you tell anyone Robin's identity, since I'm assuming you can guess accurately." An eerily familiar dark-haired boy with blue eyes came to mind. A picture from the newspaper. Finally relaxing a little in the presence of the Bat, I replied:**_

"_**Of course I wouldn't. Why have a secret identity if it wasn't a secret?" My dad snorted ungracefully, trying to stifle his laughter.**_

"_**Alright, now go back to bed." Bruce told me, before straightening up again.**_

"_**Yes, sir."**_

By the time I was done remembering – and packing – I was pretty impressed. I had fit most of my things into one carry-on-size suitcase and a backpack. The only thing I would have to go back for with boxes was my personal library.

What can I say? I like books.

…Nothing wrong with that.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder as a now re-cowled Batman typed in a code I didn't know. A bright light blinded me, and the next thing I knew, I was in my father's basement. Also known as HQ.

"There she is!" Said family member exclaimed, and I launched myself into his arms.

"Daddy!" I was probably the only almost-fourteen-year-old on the planet who still willingly called her father 'Daddy', but I didn't care.

"Thank you, Bruce." I felt the rumbled in my dad's chest as he talked over my shoulder to the Bat. A soft _click_ signaled his exit from the room.

"Batsy said I had to come back to Gotham. Why?" I asked once I was sure he was gone. My dad set me down and shook his head.

"Robin is part of a covert team now; stop calling him Batsy." I sighed.

"Direct answer, Dad."

"He's part of a covert team! That's why! It's League business." I picked up my backpack where I had abandoned it and started my way up the dimly lit stairs – started back to my home.

"Whatever, I'll call Aven, see if she knows. Or maybe Robin himself."

Truthfully, I had only met Robin a handful of times, and Dick Grayson only twice. Don't get me wrong, the kid was nice (if quirky – but aren't we all?) and he most _definitely_ had looks (Of which I wasn't going to acknowledge anytime soon). And he knew I knew. Hell, I knew he knew, too, after I met Grayson the second time and he called me Kat. I just never really hung out with the guy. Especially over the past four months, when Kat's been forcibly MIA. We were just on different ends of the spectrum, I suppose.

Aven, on the other hand, was a different story. We were…friends…I supposed, but I wasn't going to jump to conclusions. She never actually said we were, so my assumption could have very well been totally wrong. I hoped not, though. She was nice.

Anyway, my dad's conclusion _should _have been that A) calling Aven wasn't a big deal, and B) calling Robin _was_. So he had better start talking. But did he?

Of course not.

That would have made my life easier.

As always, he got halfway there and called it a day once it started getting complicated. I honestly had no idea how a guy who wanted everything so simple like him became a superhero.

So instead of spilling the beans, he gave me an easygoing wave and an 'okay hon.'

I scowled at that. Didn't he know his Baltimore roots were obvious when he used words like that? Or was it just me being picky at his word choice…

Probably the latter.

I trudged into my room, left exactly the same as four months ago only with fresh sheets and not as much stuff on the floor. I made note to thank my dad for at least cleaning up my room. I fell back onto the bed, and my head collided painfully with the headboard, but I didn't care. I just fished my phone from my pocket and texted Aven.

_April 28__th__, 3:07 PM_

_Hey.  
Bats showed up at my mom's. Brought me back to Gotham.  
Mentioned Boy Wonder's new team.  
Any thoughts?  
-E_

I chucked my phone so it landed at my feet and closed my eyes. I needed some serious sleep.

_Hopefully Batsy will fill me in tomorrow._ I thought before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

**~KAT~**

I woke up in darkness to my cell phone blaring 'Strange Charm' by Hank Green. I bolted upright. There was only one person in my contacts that had a ringtone about science.

"Not now, Dylan." I snapped into the receiver as menacing as I could in my sleep-clouded state.

"Why hello to you too." My cousin's voice crackled down the line.

"Dyl," I sighed, "what do you want?"

"I have a message for you from Bruce Wayne." I nearly fell off the bed.

"What?"

"I know, it's weird, right? How'd he even know we're cousins, let alone how he knows _you?_ Anyway, do you want the message or not?" My dearest and only tolerable cousin sounded worn thin. Looking at the clock, I realized why. It was two AM. I couldn't blame him for being irritated at his little cousin.

"Yes, Dylan, I do want the message."

"It says, 'meet tomorrow at fourteen-hundred.' Then there's some coordinates, I'll text you those, then 'don't let Bird know.'"

"Mm…kay."

"Any idea what it means, cuz?" My excuse came pouring out of my mouth immediately.

"School. There's an internship that my teacher doesn't want me to do, so I emailed Mr. Wayne to see if the info could be sent by other means."

"I thought you were in good ol' Mizzou. These coordinates, if I remember right, are in Gotham." I snorted.

"Nawh, city boy, Dad got me out." I heard him chuckle.

"Good for you. If that's what you want, that is. I currently owe my mom fifty bucks. I told her you wouldn't last a month. She said you'd last five."

"Glad my family has so much faith in me. Love you too." There was a pause.

"Love you." Then, in a typical Dylan Spencer manner, he hung up on me.

I lay back down on my bed, happy I had a liaison in Wayne enterprises that wasn't Wayne himself. If I thought about it, I couldn't understand how my science geek of a cousin ended up in business. But he was probably doing something about the science or money or some crap like that.

_In twelve hours, I might finally figure out what the hell's going on. Thanks Bats._ I thought as I stared at the ceiling in the dark.

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_Woo! End of chapter one!  
Tell us what you think, maybe? That'd be awesome.  
Anyway, Hope you liked it. Next time you see Darkness, Synk's character will come up to bat! Yay! _

_Word Counts:  
__This Chapter: 2,704  
Total: 2,704_

_Stay Awesome and Happy Writings,  
Vid and Synk._


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey Everybody! It's me Synk! How you doing? Well I'm doing great, thanks for asking. Just wanted to clear some things up before we start. This is my first story! I'm working with Vid to write this. We are each taking turns writing and it happens to be my turn. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to tell me. But try not to be too harsh, please?_

_Anywho, I guess I should get the disclaimer out there, huh? I do not own anything! I only own my OC and some of the plot!_

* * *

Darkness: Chapter Two:  
~Aven's POV~

No way. No way no way no way. This is **not** happening. I mean there has to be a way to explain this. Maybe it's a dream, yeah that must be it. Then again my dreams are never this realistic. Most of them include a pink monkey chasing after me with a 50 pound hammer. This is too real.

I guess that I should introduce myself. I'm Aven also known as Black Areo. You'll find out why later. Basically I'm one of the heroes here in Gotham. But unlike, say, our resident Bat and the Boy Wonder, I only take care of the minor jobs. Robberies and what not. And not to toot my own horn, but the baddies never see me coming. It's only 'cause I wear all black.

Well, back to the current problem. You see, I have this problem with following orders. So the police and even Batman told everyone to stay back, that they were going to handle it. Yeah, right. So being the dumb butt I am, I went into the building anyway.

Now you see this was not just some fire or robbery. This was a hostage situation. Everyone was told to keep out until little ole Batsy shows up. But seeing as how that is an order, well, we can all guess what's going through my head, no? Well in case you are clueless and have no idea whatsoever, here's a tidbit of what's running through my head:

Voice 1: 'You know that you should do the sane thing for once and not try to get yourself killed.'

Voice 2: 'Ahhhh! But that's no fun and you know it. And besides the man did say that it was advisable to stand back, and plus he wasn't talking to us, he was talking to those stupid, uncontrollable, thick skulled, annoy...'

Voice 1: 'You're getting off track.'

Voice 2: 'Right right. But anyway he wasn't talking to us. So really we don't have to do what he says, so ha!'

And scene.

And yes before you ask questions, I do argue with myself, and that's not even the sad part. The sad part is that I most of the time lose to myself!

But never mind that. After I banished those Voices, I did just what Voice 2 suggested, and that is blatantly disobey orders and go in there to kick some Harley Quinn butt.

It took me all of one minute to get passed the police and enter the Forbidden Land. You would think that villains would choose more fashionable places to conduct their evil schemes - or at least choose a nice hotel to hold the important people hostage. But no. It has to be in some run down old warehouse.

It didn't take me long to find Miss Harley Guinn. You can tell that she's not even trying to hide. She has no reason to. Everyone knows that she's here, so why bother trying to stay undetected?

After that, well I couldn't tell you 'cause all that I remember after that was the most painful black I have ever seen.

**~BLACK AREO~**

I have the worst head ache ever! It feels like the Joker is doing a jig with spiky shoes, banging a hammer on the side of my head and I swear that he is singing Old MacDonald.

The first thing that manages to make it through that horrible song is the fact that I can hear someone close by. From the sound for it the person is trying their hardest to be quiet, but man is that person failing.

Slowly dragging my bound feet and hands till I'm in a somewhat upright position, I glance around. OK, it looks like I'm in the same warehouse that I stared out in, and it looks like that other person that I'm hearing is the hostage. Although I guess now I'm a hostage also. Well that rescue mission failed epically.

We, the boy and I, are wedged in between what appears to be some very old crates. Want to know how I know that they're old? Well for starters they are incredible dusty. Another give away is that fact that they are in this warehouse in the first place.

From where I'm sitting, I can just barely make out the place that I entered. I entered through one of the many holes in the roof. This place is literally falling to pieces. The ceiling has too many holes to count. I think that at one point in time there was some kind of tunnel system under this area, because parts of the ground have caved in leaving large gaping holes in its place. There weren't too many crates in here, only ten or so. Two of them happen to be digging into my spinal column and my poor fingers. Man that is going to hurt in the morning! Oh well, let's worry about that when I'm not tied up shall we?

I had just finished nitpicking my new hotel room - man there were so many bugs! - when I heard what sounded like someone laughing.

Glancing over at the over at the boy next to me, it didn't take long to realize that it wasn't the boy. If anything he looked as he had seen a ghost. I sighed. You see how useless boys are? So much for us girls being the damsels in distress.

Not two seconds later, the kidnapper herself showed up. And man was she somethin' else. And not in the good way. It's too dark to properly see her, but everyone who is everyone knows what she looks like. Her and the Joker, but, thank the High Heavens; he is not here right now.

And that about brings us up to the present, where I happen to be panicking. I might be a superhero, but that does not mean that I can't internally panic. The key is to not show that panic.

I take several deep breaths to calm myself. When I finally work up the nerve to question her, she beats me to it.

"So little one, I don't believe that I've had the pleasure of meeting you before. Although judging by the look on your face, not that I can see it," she added, although I don't like the way that she's eyeing my mask, "that you know who I am? Good that saves time. Now then since you are clearly a Gotham hero, I would like you to call the famous Bat for me? There's a good girl."

"No thanks," Is all that I reply. Okay, I know that that was not a smart thing to say, but I don't have a filter that stops words, so the words tend to just come pouring out.

The boy, who has been extremely quiet this whole time, chooses that time to unceremoniously kick me in my ribs. I glare over at him. I can't help it. I know that I should feel pity for this poor boy, but really he's pushing his luck.

"What was that for!" I demand.

Before he has a chance to retort, there is a loud shattering noise. From the spot I'm in I can't see what caused it. But clearly she can.

"The Boy Wonder. Why am I not surprised. The Bat send you to take out the trash? Hm? Or are you here to take this pitiful excuse for a hero before I get to have my fun?"

"Hey! You watch your tongue, you over-dressed hobo!" Have I mentioned the lack of filter on my mouth?

By some divine intervention, though, she does not get a chance to kill me. The Boy Wonder himself steps in to prevent that.

Using this distraction to my advantage, I slice through the rope on my hands and my feet. Turning to the boy, I do that same with my Arrow Knife. Pointing to a small gap in between the wall and the crates, I make sure that the maybe 15 year old boy gets there. Now comes my favorite part. Time to kick some bad guy butt.

Leaping up over the made-up hobo, I land next to the little bird. He casts a quick look my way and raises one eyebrow at me. I role my eyes in return before I had to dodge a punch from the clown. Robin lets out his creepy laugh and throws down some smoke pellets. Using the new cloud of smoke to my advantage I slip in and summon my Arrow Ties.

They are, to put it I terms that you would be able to understand, 2D black arrows that I can use to make anything. This includes, but is not limited to: swords, knifes, ropes, grappling ropes, and one of my more powerful moves, tornados.

Moving in, I can hear the two engaged in battle. Following the sounds, I am able to locate them. Being careful not to hit Robin, I duck under Harley's arm and sliced with my arrows. She ducked and pulled one of those survival knifes and took a stab at me. Robin took that as an opportunity to toss in some of his Batarangs. This little dance carried on for about five minutes. Finally have enough of this I used my Arrow Ties and allow the arrows to wind themselves around her body and then up her arms and them down to her legs. She now looks like a black mummy.

"Congrats, Harley, you are the first black mummy to ever be found alive," I clapped my hands loving the look on her face as she screams whatever profanity comes to mind.

Sensing someone behind me I turn to find the Boy Wonder standing right in my face.

Jumping slightly, I almost trip over Harley who is still screaming like it's the end of the world, which for her it probably is.

"Thanks for the help," Robin states smirking at me, "it would have taken all night to round her up. What's your name?" He looks at me with a slightly wary face. Not that I can blame him. I can guarantee that he has never heard of me.

"Oh I'm Black Areo, and you are the Boy Wonder himself. It is a pleasure to meet you and all, but I got to go. Bye and thanks again!" I call as I shoot my version of a grappling hook up into one of the holes in the roof.

"Yeah, no problem!" He calls after me.

**~BLACK AREO~**

It doesn't take me long to make it back to my house. We live in one of the relatively good neighborhoods. Not a lot of baddies make it this far without being caught.

I cautiously open my window hoping to the High Heavens that it doesn't make any noise. Last thing I need is a lecturer from Murth. He is a total killjoy. He hates all meta-humans and all of the Justice League. The world must feel like giving me a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card tonight. No creeks or squeaks. The house itself seems to be trying to be just as quiet as me. There is no noise in the entire house. That's odd. There is always some kinda noise. This reminds me of that Christmas poem. Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Creepy.

Then I find out why there was no noise. Murth is sitting in my room. Staring at me. Even if you are a fearless warrior like me, you can't help but be afraid of Murth. Murth is about six feet tall and has all the muscles a guy could want. He has tan scarred skin and a buzz cut. He has very light blue eyes that I swear can see into your soul.

"Oh, um, hi Murth?" It came out more of a question then I would have liked but at least I didn't say anything about the fact that he's in SpongeBob boxers. That would have been suicidal. And believe it or not that is one of the things that I'm not.

"Where were you? And you better not tell me that you were off 'saving the city'," He glowered down at me. At this point he had moved from the wall to stand in front of me. He was even more intimidating now then he was when he was just standing by the wall.

Being very careful to keep my face blank, I looked back at him and smirked slightly, "OK then, I was not out saving the city from all of your old friends." Okay so ignore the part where I said that I wasn't suicidal, with what I just said there is no way I'm living to see the sun rise.

"You know what I said you stupid girl. You will NOT be going out in that stupid useless costume. You won't be fighting any more 'villains'," note the air quotes, "and you will not, I repeat, NOT, be going and using those devil gifts that you call 'powers'," once again note the air quotes.

As you can probably guess Murth, my Step-Dad, is not a fan of us supers. And I think that he still supports those gangs and other villain organizations. He used to be a con, but as my mother put it, 'he has changed'. Yeah right.

He spun around and headed for the door, not before my big mouth opened though, "They are gifts you bastard!"

Now normally that wouldn't be so bad. But this is Murth that we're talking about here. So it's like poking the Joker and expecting him to leave your head on your shoulders. No chance.

He spun around again, but this time facing me. He stalked over and grabbed my already bruised hand. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, "You will watch your mouth when talking to me, girl, or else face the consequences."

At this point I couldn't help but stare. In a matter of seconds he was out the door and the house began creaking again. It was like the house had been holding its breath. I can't believe that he didn't kill me for that. Maybe Mom talked some sense into him? That has to be it.

Walking over to my bed, I flopped down still in my suit, mask and all. Not even bothering to take off my mask I check my phone which was blinking signaling a new message. Picking it up, I opened it. It was from Elena. It read:

_April 28__th__, 3:07 PM_

_Hey.  
Bats showed up at my mom's. Brought me back to Gotham.  
Mentioned Boy Wonder's new team.  
Any thoughts?  
-E_

Wow had I really been out that long? Huh. That has to be a record. Nice.

Turning my thoughts back to the text, I thought it over. So Boy Wonder's on the new team that I've been hearing about. How 'bout that.

Hitting the Reply button, I answered.

_April 29, 3:03 AM_

_I ran into the Boy earlier  
__I have heard of the team,  
__Why did The Bat want you?  
__-A_

Snapping my phone shut, I closed my eyes trying to picture Elena. It had been a while since I had last seen her. I could only remember that her dad was some big shot superhero. She was a nice girl. She had a bit of an attitude which is an added bonus. She was a nice girl to spar with, too.

Oh well nothing I can do until she answers.

I was just slipping into that wondrous world of dreams, when there was a knock on my window. Being a naturally light sleeper and add that to the fact that I was still tense from the Harley Incident, I was up in half a second.

There at the window was the Bat himself. Blinking to make sure that I had not actually entered the world of dreams, I walked over to the window. Opening it slowly I allowed the Bat to enter my room.

"OK so either this is some kind of stress induced hallucination, or I'm dreaming, yeah that has to be it," I mutter. There is no way that Batman would just willingly come to my house without a reason. Although I guess that Robin could have told him about the Harley thing and he was coming to yell at me about not listening to orders. Or he could be coming to arrest me for living with an ex-con. Yeah I bet that's it. It has to be. Oh great, here goes my paranoia again.

Seeing my panic, he holds up his hand in surrender. "I am only here because I heard about how you tried to save that boy from Harley."

Oh shit, so it was about not following orders and staying away. Oh my god. I'm dead so dead.

"From what I heard from Robin you helped a great deal." Now that is not what I was expecting.

"Wait, so you're not here to yell at me for disobeying orders?" I had to check. Hey you would too! Don't judge me.

"No I'm not. I'm here to ask you to meet me at these coordinates at fourteen-hundred hours. Understand?" I nodded, too stunned to speak, "Good see you then." And with that he was out the window and gone.

I just stood there. I was in overdrive. First I get kidnapped by Harley. OK so it was my fault, but still. Then I don't get killed by Murth even after I call him a bastard. Then I get a house call from the Batman. Wow what a night.

Flopping back down on my bed, I close my eyes. Good lord, if Murth finds out about this, then I am so dead, no mercy. Oh well, I can't wait to see what the Bat wants from me.

Carefully placing the note under my pillow, I stand and get changed into my PJ's. I barely make it to the bed before I'm out like a light.

* * *

_Review if you love me! And even if you don't, please review! It will help save the lives for little children. OK so it won't, but it would save MY life if you did._

_Word Counts:__  
__This Chapter: 3,018__  
__Total: 5,722_

_Sincerely the ever iNSanE,  
__Synk_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N:_

_Hi there! _

_So, this chapter three!  
Of which I wrote shortly after I read Synk's chapter. _

_Also, ROBIN IS DICK GRAYSON. Forever and always. Sorry, but I had to say it._

_I should be writing a sonnet for English class, but I got bored and decided to do this instead. _

_Oh, and in case you didn't know, text messages and thoughts are always in italics for Elena chapters. The author's notes are, too, but those are at the beginning and end, so there's not any confusion there._

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 3:  
~Elena's POV~

I didn't sleep much longer after my conversation with Dylan. In fact, I didn't sleep at all. I just laid there until I saw my phone light up and the obnoxious Tetris song started playing. You know the one. And in case you don't, it goes something like this: Bum bu-bu-bum, bu-bu-bum, bu-bu-bum, bu-bu-bum, bu-bu-bum, bu-bu-bum bum bum bum.

Now you know.

I looked at my phone. Aven texted me back:

_April 29, 3:03 AM_

_I ran into the Boy earlier_  
_I have heard of the team,_  
_Why did The Bat want you?_  
_-A_

It's only 3 AM? Holy biscuit.

I debated how to answer. What if she didn't get a message from Batman? That would be embarrassing. I sat there and stared at it for a while. Before I knew it, an hour had passed.

"Elena?" I heard a tapping at my bedroom door.

"Yeah, Dad?" I called, and the door was cracked open. My dad was standing in the doorway, all 5'10" of him, his short brown hair messy.

_He must have just woken up._

"I thought you'd be awake. What's up?" He came over and sat on my bed. I sighed and started running a hand through my long hair in an effort to untangle it.

"Trying to figure out how to respond to Aven's text." I showed it to him.

"Why did Batman want you?" He asked. I shrugged.

"You tell me." Silence.

Typical.

"Well, anyway, I got a call from Dyl." I changed the subject.

"Really? What did he say?" I closed my eyes and gave the short version of our late-night conversation while picturing my cousin.

Dyl could have been my brother, if no one knew his dad and mine were identical twins. Dylan looked just like my Uncle and my father. Short brown hair, brown eyes, tall, tanned skin. Complete opposite of me. I was short – five foot two inches – and I had mid-back-length white-blonde hair and fair skin. But the most distinct difference between us was my eyes. They were an amber color and – true to my alter ego – slitted like a cat's. I wore colored contacts most of the time so that people didn't stare.

"Hmm. Then just tell her that. Then get some sleep. Big day tomorrow!" And with that vague and ominous exclamation from my father, he was gone from my room.

So I texted Aven back:

_April 29, 4:13 AM:_

_Have to meet him at some random place.  
14:00 today.  
Hope you got a similar message.  
-E_

I honestly didn't expect an answer from Aven, if she had texted me at three in the morning, she was probably dead tired. And you do not want to cross a tired Aven.

So instead of heeding my father's advice, I pulled out my annotated copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes and began reading it for the umpteenth time.

**~KAT~**

At precisely 13:45 (1:45) PM, I was standing in the shadows of an alleyway next to a Starbucks.

Yes, that's right; the great Dark Knight had given me coordinates to a Starbucks.

I had taken no chances as to attire and opted for my black-and-orange Kat getup: a black leotard and pants with orange belt, knee-high boots and elbow-length fingerless gloves. My mask was simple and black, it covered the area around my eyes, while leaving my cat's eyes exposed and glittering. My long hair was in French braid that hung down the middle of my back.

So, I may have said that I had a cape, but truthfully I don't. But I was trying to make a point. And my hair is long enough that it's kinda a cape…

Anyway, I wasn't angry at Bats. He had to have a reason…even if it was a Starbucks.

Five minutes later, I heard a scuffling sound behind me.

"Black Areo. You got a message, too, then." I said calmly, turning around to face her. She gave me a small smile.

"Kat. I could have snuck up on you unnoticed if I wanted to." I smiled back.

"Thanks for not doing that, then." We fell into silence, and I scooted over so she could share my vantage point with me. From where we were sitting, Batman could come in any direction (besides behind us) and we would see him.

The minutes ticked past. Someone in the distance, a bell rang twice. More minutes ticked by.

At 2:30, some people in costume appeared out of thin air onto the roof of the warehouse across the street.

"Did you –" I started, gesturing towards the building.

"See that? Yeah." Aven responded. We watched them in silence. There were six of them. Two girls, four boys.

"Looks like an invisible ship." I said after a few minutes more of studying.

"Yeah. And that looks like the Boy Wonder. Do you think it's his team?" Areo asked, and I shrugged.

"Probably. I would say that we should go ask where Batsy is, but he told me not to tell Robin." I realized with a jolt that maybe _this_ was what Bruce wanted us to see. But as to why, I still couldn't figure out.

We lapsed back into silence.

It was a nice silence, though. For being someone that didn't have much of a filter on her mouth, I was happy to know that Aven could stay silent, as well.

**Bang. **

I jumped slightly at the loud sound that came from the direction of the warehouse. Robin's team had only been in there a few minutes.

_Could they have already gotten in trouble? _I asked myself. _Yeah. Didn't Dad mention that Kid Flash was on that team? He's a magnet for trouble._

There was another crashing sound, then some shouting, and _then_ a large section of what looked like a concrete support beam got thrown out the second story window and onto the sidewalk below.

"Good thing it isn't a busy street." Areo said from beside me, and I nodded in agreement.

"We should go help them." I announced impulsively, and was already halfway across the street when I bothered to check if Aven was behind me.

Not that I needed to check, I knew that she would want to come. It's part of that impulse to beat shit up that all heroes have (to a certain degree).

When we got to the concrete thing (which _was_ a support beam, by the way), Areo used her black arrow things that I had yet to fully understand to make a grappling hook before hesitantly holding out a hand to me. I took it, and we zipped up the side of the building and jumped in through the window. As soon as my feet hit the ground Areo let go of me and jumped into battle.

I didn't think anything of it and followed suit.

I was in the process of kicking a guy in the neck when Robin spotted me.

"Kat!" He exclaimed in surprise, and I gave a small wave. I hit the guy in the jaw instead before closing the short gap between myself and Robin. Now that I was this close to the Boy Wonder, I could see that his ebony hair was starting to stick to his forehead with sweat, and his sleeve had been torn in a too-close-for-comfort encounter.

"You okay, Rob?" I asked, then blinked in shock. _Why was I so concerned?_

I tried to push that thought aside; the guy _was_ Batman's protégé after all, so everyone should be concerned, right?

Right.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How'd you get here? Duck!" I did as I was told, and Rob threw a Bird-a-rang at a goon behind me that exploded on impact. He fell into one of Black Areo's combatants and the two slid into a wall.

"Thanks. And to answer your question –" I punched a henchman in the gut "– I ran into Black Areo over there and we heard some shouting. We came to investigate, and now here I am!" Robin roundhouse-kicked a new goon in the face and cackled.

"Here you are." He agreed, then intricately flipped away from a new opponent, almost like a dance. I shook my head slightly and turned to see if anyone needed help. A green Martian girl that reminded me of Manhunter was fighting who looked like the leader alongside a boy with Superman's insignia on his chest. (_Must be the clone Dad told me about_, I thought). Aqualad and a girl clad in green and armed with a bow were in an opposite corner, fighting off some goons trying to get in the door. Areo was being…well, Black Areo. You know, insulting them and beating the shit out of the henchman. I already knew Robin was behind me. That left…

A yellow blur caught my eye.

Kid Flash.

He skidded to a stop right in front of the broken window and set his hands on his knees for a moment. Facing away from a henchman running straight for him.

No one saw the guy except me, and I wouldn't have been able to alert Kid Flash in time.

_I __really_ _didn't want to have to do this today!_ I thought as I morphed and leaped through the air, pouncing on the burly henchman and pinning him to the ground.

"Nice try." I snarled at him, and laughed when his eyes bugged out of his skull.

"What? Never heard a tiger talk before? Surely you heard, Kat's back in town." I put as much smirk into my voice as I could (since cats can't really smirk) before raking my claws down his front and jumping off him.

I watched him curl in on himself in pain and then turned around, satisfied.

Kid Flash was staring at me.

"You're a- You're a-" He stuttered, and I laughed.

"A tiger? Yeah. I can be other cats, too. A lion, a cheetah, a jaguar, a puma, lynx, a leopard…well, you get my point." I said with a little cheek. I morphed back, right in front of Kid Flash's bulging emerald eyes.

"Sorry to alarm, but there wasn't enough time to get your attention." I told him apologetically, and he just nodded.

"I'm Kat, in case you didn't know." I stuck out a hand and introduced myself – even though we had already met once before – hoping that would snap him out of it.

Luckily for me, it did.

"I'm Kid Flash." He took my hand and kissed it gently, like I was some sort of princess. He obviously didn't remember me. I didn't blame him, I only recognized him because up until my banishment to Missouri, I had kept myself updated on everyone that had anything to do with the League. Plus, the one time we had met was a long time ago.

_Still a flirt_, I noted to myself.

"Nice to meet you." I pulled my hand away and instantly looked for Robin.

_Now why did I do that?_ I mused as I spotted him speaking with Areo across the room. As I looked on, he turned towards me and waved me over.

"Hello again." I said, standing next to Areo so that the Bird and I were face-to-face.

"I was just telling Black Areo here that you two helped us out a lot today. It was totally asterous. Thanks." Rob said to me with a small grin that on anyone else would look like a smirk.

"It's not a problem. I'm just happy to help. Just got back in town." I told him and Areo as the rest of Robin's team came over. He pressed a finger to his ear and started muttering under his breath.

"And who are these two, Robin?" The teen in green asked. Her voice was kind of raspy and rough, but I figured it was her natural voice, since no one asked her what was wrong.

"I'm Kat." I answered for Rob.

"Black Areo." Aven added a beat later.

"What are they doing here?" She said to the Boy Wonder, completely ignoring us.

_Rude._

"Why don't you ask them, Artemis? I'm kind of in the middle of a conversation with Batman." Robin almost-sighed, then went back to muttering. I realized with a jolt that he was communicating with Batman.

"We were in the neighborhood and saw you guys throw a giant concrete pillar into the middle of the street." Areo told her quickly, and I suppressed a giggle.

No one could deny it; Areo certainly had a way with words.

The girl – Artemis – opened her mouth to speak, but Rob cut her off.

"Batman wants you guys to come back to Mount Justice with us." My eyebrows shot up.

"The Mountain? Is that where you guys are?" He nodded.

"But I thought all the villains already knew that it was Mount Justice, that's why it isn't used anymore."

"The Justice League re-commissioned it for the purposes of our covert team." Aqualad stepped up with the information.

"Also, it is nice to see you again, Kat." He added.

"Nice to see you, too, Aqualad." I said kindly, thankful that there was at least _someone_ who wasn't from Gotham remembered me. Not naming any names.

Cough, cough, Kid Flash.

"This is our team. You already know Robin, That is Kid Flash, Flash's nephew; Artemis, Green Arrow's niece; Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's niece; and Superboy, who is Superman's, well, clone." Kaldur gestured towards all of them in turn, who had various forms of greetings to Areo and I. KF and Miss Martian waved, Artemis kind-of-smiled, and Superboy grunted.

"Cool. Like I said, I'm Kat."

"And I'm Black Areo."

"And Batman wants you two to come back to the Mountain with us. Actually, he wanted you two coming back with us five minutes ago. So he won't be feeling the aster if we're late."

Needless to say, we hurried to the roof after Robin.

No one likes an angry Batman.

I was right in my guess of invisible ship. Actually, it was a bio-ship, under the control of Miss Martian. We all piled in, and chairs molded themselves up from the floor to accommodate Areo and I, and we were off.

It didn't take long enough before we were at Mount Justice and following Robin's team (which I had come to understand wasn't his team at all, but Aqualad's. Oops) to where Batman would be waiting.

"Team. Black Areo. Kat." Batman's deep voice matched his stoic stature as his obsidian cape and cowl came into view. But he wasn't the only one there. Standing next to him were the mentors of everyone in Young Justice – minus Superman – as well as Black Canary, Red Tornado, and –

"Dad?" I blurted out in my confusion. But there he was – decked out in his gold, black, and red suit.

"Hi, sweetheart." He said fondly, making me blush crimson. Robin, who was standing next to me, chuckled and patted my shoulder in sympathy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, while at the same time Superboy spoke for the first time that day: "Who are you?"

My dad just laughed.

"My name is Fuse. Kat there is my daughter." He addressed Superboy, completely ignoring my question, which infuriated me.

So, I shot Batman a you-had-better-start-explaining look.

"Kat, Black Areo, there is a reason why I asked Robin to bring you two back here. You both are talented and skilled heroes, and you fought bravely today, helping without being asked." He paused, and it took all my mental strength not to butt in and say something along the lines of _Get on with it!_ Areo was clearly thinking along the same lines as me. She looked like she wanted to say something, but never got a chance, because Batman started talking again.

"So, the League, Fuse, and I have come to a conclusion, a proposition we would like to present." Another pause. A guess as to what Batman was going to say formed in my mind (I also assumed that my dad must have given him a script, because he was drawing it out _way_ too long). Beside me, Robin was smirking. That confirmed it.

"Would the two of you like to join Young Justice?"

* * *

_Ta-da! Chapter three, woo!_

_Little bit of a cliffie. Sorry. Hee-hee. _

_So, review if you wanna!_

_Next chapter is Aven! (I dunno why I'm saying this because you already know)._

_So, please review, if you have the time, they're really helpful and it warms my heart...thanks!_

_Word Counts:  
__This chapter: 2,700  
Total: 8,422_

_Stay Awesome and Happy Writings,  
Vid._


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey y'all! How's it? OK I know that this is only the fourth chapter, but really people? Only one review? I know that there are people out there who like this story, so if you could, could you please review?**

**But anywho, I am so very proud to ****present to you, Chapter Four!**

**(AND Vid says Thank you very much to STicker55 for reviewing!)**

* * *

Darkness: Chapter Four:

~Aven's POV~

Oh My Gosh. Why can't I sleep! Man I am going to be so tired in the morning, and I really don't feel like bitting off El's head tomorrow when I see her. Well I guess that it's actually today. Yup, that's right. I was going to see one of the only people that could put up with me. And knowing me, I was going to be so tired when I see her, that I would end up scaring her off.

_No more thinking about what's__ coming up later! _I mentally scolded myself. But then again, I had a good reason to be panicking. I mean what would I do if Murth finds out? _But if he doesn't find out then __you're__ in the clear, so STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! _Man that stupid voice was giving me a headache. It just wouldn't stop yelling at me. Much more of that, and that headache from being knocked out was going to come back in full force.

Sighing, I glanced over at the clock beside my bed. The glowing red numbers read _4:17. _I had slept for roughly an hour. That's it. Pulling the pillow up over my face, I tried, and failed, to stop the voices from keeping me up any longer.

Finally having enough of the pointless torture people call sleep, I dragged myself over to my closet and pulled out my suit.

It was a very simple one. It consisted of a dark red, long-sleeve skin-tight shirt that had black arrows all over it, a pair of movable black pants, and light black gloves. It also has ankle high black boots. Over all it wasn't in that bad of a condition considering what I just put it through. Although I still had several areas that needed patching.

Instead of sleeping like a good child, I went to work on making it presentable for later.

**~BLACK AREO~**

I worked well into the morning. When I was done with the basic repairs, I went and added some extras. Such as extra grips in the gloves. Better armor in the chest and stomach area. And I added the one thing that I've been wanting for some time. A nice black hood to the back.

Looking at that thing you people call a clock (I hate them. They wake me up in the morning before I'm ready. Stupid invention) it said that if I went to sleep then, I could get oh, say, maybe four hours of sleep? My mental math sucked. But I thought that sounds right. Placing my new and improved suit back in the small water proof case in my closet, I dragged myself over to my wonderful, amazing bed.

The moment that I sank into it, my thoughts began to do what they do best, drift. _Man my bed feels so nice and fluffy, it reminds me of a cloud. I w__onder what sleeping on a cloud feels like. I'm sure that it's cold up there. Kinda like winter. I don't like winter. Way too cold. So much ice, a person could kill themselves on it. Kill themselves. Hm, why does that remind me of __something? Harley!. That __stupid cow! She tried to kill me._

At that thought, I nearly jumped out of bed. I caught a glimpse of the clock on my way down to meet the floor. I slept for two hours! During the day! That had never happened before. I don't sleep during the day.

Not giving myself a chance to properly wake up, I ran down the stairs of my house (not really mine just for the record) and into the kitchen. I quickly wrote out a note and stuck it to the fridge. No one in this household woke up before they had to on the weekends.

Rummaging through the fridge, I searched for the one thing that would save me and Elena from my stupid sleep deprived mouth. Starbucks coffee. Yes, okay I'm that type of person who stocks up on Starbucks because, well, um, because I can! So there!

_It's__ the end of the world._ Oh no. there were no more drinks in there. _Oh shit I am so dead._

**~BLACK AREO~**

After about ten minutes of running around like a chicken with no head, I finally was able to get my thoughts in order. 1) get into hero suit. 2) figure out where the meeting place is. and 3) freak out about no more coffee.

Even after making that list, it still took me ages to get my brain working. I all but dragged myself back up the stairs and into my suit. I pulled on my mask that was just a simple domino mask. You know that one with the creepy glowing white eyes? The one, that if they were red, were they would be considered demon eyes if looked at in the dark? And truth be told, I love doing that. The whole 'scare the shit out of the baddies simple by tapping them on the shoulder and starring right into their eyes' thing. Their reactions were so funny! Anywho, back to the matter at hand. I still had about two hours till I had to be at the Starbucks (can you believe it, the Bat must know that I need coffee. Thank you Bat!)

Thirty minutes later, I threw myself out my window and shot my Arrow Hook out and used it to swing myself up onto a nearby rooftop. Running from rooftop to rooftop was one of my favorite pass times, even if it was suicidal. Although nowhere near as bad as, say, yelling at Batman or trying to get along with the Joker. One minute with that guy and I guarantee that your brain will just die. You cannot have an educated conversation with him without losing some brain cells. But anyway. After about ten minutes of running, jumping, and using my arrows to propel myself, I finally reached my destination: Starbucks.

**~BLACK AREO~**

After sitting there in the shadows for about thirty minutes, all the while debating whether or not Batman will mind that I had coffee break, there was some faint movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning towards the living shadow, I realized that it was my wonderful sparring partner. Kat. Man, she must have updated her suit since I last saw her, it looked different. Not in a bad way, though. Her hair's longer and much lighter. So, the question now is, how should I approach her? Should I sneak up on her? Or should I let her now that I'm here? Or should I just stay here until Batsy shows up? _So many choices! Why ca__n't I make up my mind!_

Well I guess I knew the answer to that question. That fight-or-flight instinct? Well mine is kinda strange. If I'm in hiding, then I don't want people to see me no matter what I have to do. But if someone insults me, then I have to fight. It is so contradictory it's not even funny.

Finally shutting my mind down to get it to STOP IT, I slipped out from my hiding spot and walked over to her, making some noise to alert her to my presence.

Without turning around she called out, "Black Areo. You got a message, too, then." She turned around and I smirked slightly.

"Kat. I could have snuck up on you unnoticed if I wanted to." And she knew it too. I knew that she did. I'd done it to her before.

"Thanks for not doing that, then." She slid over to make room for me. We lapsed into comfortable silence. Normally this was where I would start talking up a storm, but you see, I was still suffering from no caffeine. I knew that I did have my coffee for the day, but it has yet to kick in. Thank Gosh that she could stay quiet. That headache from earlier was slowly coming back and the last thing that my brain needed right then was more noise. Of course the silence was not to last. Stupid bell.

Some time later, (lost track a **long** time ago) there was a kind or _whooshing_ noise. Looking up from the Starbucks I had been gazing at longingly, I noticed what looked like some kinda plane or sleep-deprived mind struggled to make sense of this. _Are aliens invading? Unless for some reason the governme__nt is making invisible ships._

Glancing over at Kat, she met my eyes. "Did you-" she started.

I nodded, "See that? Yeah."

Several people popped out of an opening. _Oh great, it is aliens. Just what this already dysfunctional world needed._

"It looks like an invisible ship." Kat mused after a minute. Hm, is it even possible to see an invisible ship?

"Yeah. And that looks like the Boy Wonder. Do you think it's his team?" Finally my mind was able to process what I had just seen. No they were not all aliens, only the Martian girl. No they were not here to take over the world. And no they were not going to come over and say 'Take me to your leader, Earthlings'. That only happened in the cartoons and movies.

"Probably. I would say that we should go ask where Batsy is, but he told me not to tell Robin." Ah yes, The Bat. He probably had this whole thing planned out from the start. Who knows, he might have even taken all my coffee away as punishment, 'cause I knew that I had some in there yesterday.

After what felt like ages of wonderful silence, and my headache was finally gone, there was an explosion.

**Bang**

Kat jumped and I would have too, if I wasn't falling asleep. _Stupid people. Why can't you fight the bad guys quietly? I'm trying to sleep here! _OK so maybe it was a good thing that they were being loud.

Not long after that loud noise - still no idea what caused it - there was another really loud noise. Only this time it was accompanied by shouting and- what was that? A large part of the building had just been thrown out into the street. It looked like some kind of pillar.

"Good thing it isn't a busy street." Kat nodded in agreement.

"We should go help them." Way to state the obvious Kat. Nope I was just going to sit here and watch them all parish. Please note the sarcasm.

We both took off across the street without another word. What I found funny was that she found the need to check if I was coming. I mean, really? What person in their right mind would run away? OK there was so much wrong with that sentence. I blamed it on my poor dead mind.

Shaking my head in hope that it would help, I stopped next to Kat who was looking at the support beam (the thing that was thrown out into the street). Taking a deep breath, I launched one of my Arrow Hooks up on to one of the windows. Now came the hard part. To take Kat with me or to let her get in by herself. Figuring that it would save time, I hesitantly held my hand out to her. I knew people were kinda freaked out by what I can do, after all, who else can make arrows with their hands? That's what I thought.

After a split second, during which I thought that she wasn't going to take my silent offer, she grabbed my hand. I launched us up and through the window above us. The moment my feet hit the ground, I was off.

In a matter of seconds I was surrounded by goons. Yes! Someone to take my anger out on!

"Man you guys are **so**ugly! Why is it that all the goons are so ugly!" One of the things that I loved about beating the shit out of these stupid people (after all who in their right mind would work for these people?) is the fact that I could make fun of them. And then I got to hit them. What could be better?

I dodged a punch and used his motion to my advantage and went right into a roundhouse kick. He crashed into another ugly head. There was a sharp kick to the back of my leg. Dropping onto my hands, I pushed myself into a back handspring. "Man what is it with you guys? Why are all of you so pathetic? Why can't you be more like, say, Harley Quinn? At least she put up a fight." The look on his face was priceless when he found out I fought with her. Of course they didn't really know if I fought with her or not. But that was all that I needed. I punched him right in the face.

"Well, that broken nose makes you look so much better. Now then. I think that you will be next," I looked over at another one coming at me. Not that he ever reached me. One of Kat's goons crashed onto him. Glancing over at her, I saw that it was the Boy's doing. I'd thank him later. You see, several more were coming at me.

Smirking, I ran at them. They looked startled. They were clearly not expecting that. I wrapped one of my arrows around one of the goons and pulled him in front of me. It's not because I'm weak or anything. I just love watching them figure out how to get around their buddy. It's so funny.

"Ah come on. I knew you guys were stupid, but this is ridiculous." That did it. They charged. With a flick of my wrist, the wrapped-up goon crashed into two of his friends, leaving three of them still coming. Two of then went down with no trouble, the other one, though, pulled out a knife. He smirked, as if expecting me to run screaming for my life.

"OK, if you expect me to run away from that knife, then you've got another thing coming. But then again that face of yours is pretty bad," I almost laughed at the expression on his face, it was priceless. OK scratch that I did laugh. It was too funny. Using my own Arrow Knife, I was able to knock his knife out of his hand and then punch his lights out. But not before he got one last sentence in, "Tell Mercenary I said hi, will ya?" And he passed out. It was too late. The damage had been done.

Scowling down at the stupid goon, I didn't see or hear Robin approaching me. At the last second I spun around with one of my knives at his throat. His eyes widened and he quickly held his hands up in surrender.

"OK, no need to decapitate me! I just came over to say thanks for helping us today," I lowered my arm and signaled for him to continue, "It was totally astrous. Without you guys we would probably be dead. Although, I didn't expect to see you so soon. You trying to end up dead?"

Before I could comment, Kat joined us. She stood next to me, although I made sure not too close (I don't like people touching me).

"Hello again." Kat said smiling slightly at the Bird. It was easy to see that she cared for him. She was just so oblivious. But don't worry, she wasn't alone it that little department. The receiver of her affections was just as oblivious as she was.

"I was just telling Black Areo here that you two helped us out a lot today. It was totally asterous. Thanks." He gave her a small smirk that looked suspiciously like a smile.

"It's not a problem. I'm just happy to help. Just got back in town." Where did she say she was? Oh it's right on the tip of my tongue-. Why can't I remember this type of stuff? I mean really it's not that hard!

One thing that is more amusing than Kid Flash trying to flirt with Kat, is watching someone talk into a comm. when you can't hear what's being said on the other side. The whole 'one-sided-conversation' thing is very interesting. But, I won't bore you with the details.

Just when all was looking up, the girl dressed in green had to ruin it. And let me tell you, she looked like a total Green Arrow wannabe. It was just sad.

"And who are these two, Robin?" She asked, glaring over at us briefly before turning back to Robin, who was still busy talking to, I'm guessing, the Bat.

"I'm Kat."

"Black Areo."

And like the rude, stuck-up girl she is, she completely ignored us! I would really like to beat some sense into her, but that would probably get me in sooooo much trouble with the Dark Knight.

"What are they doing here?" Really? We where standing RIGHT HERE! I mean, I'm known for blending in with the shadows a lot, but I mean come on!

"Why don't you ask them, Artemis? I'm kind of in the middle of a conversation with Batman." Ha! Called it! Pay up chumps.

"We were in the neighborhood and saw you guys throw a giant concrete pillar into the middle of the street." I added. It was the best way to keep from punching her right now. And she so had it coming.

She opened her mouth to say something in response, but Robin beat her to it. "Batman wants you guys to come back to Mount Justice with us." OK now that I did not see that coming.

Apparently, neither did Kat. "The Mountain? Is that where you guys are?" Robin nodded.

"But I thought all the villains already knew that it was Mount Justice, that's why it isn't used anymore," Kat asked. Man, now I want to knew what the Mountain was! Was I, like, the only one that didn't know? Cause that's what it felt like. Ever have one of those moments were it feels like everyone else knows the joke but you don't? Yeah, just like that.

"The Justice League re-commissioned it for the purposes of our covert team," A tall, dark skinned young man stepped into the conversion. I thought his name was Aqualad or something like that. "Also, it is nice to see you again, Kat." He added giving her a half smile. She returned it in a similar fashion.

"This is our team. You already know Robin, That is Kid Flash, Flash's nephew; Artemis, Green Arrow's niece; Miss Martian, Martian Man-hunter's niece; and Superboy, who is Superman's, well, clone."

"Cool. Like I said, I'm Kat."

"And I'm Black Areo." How many times was I going to have to say this? They should really pay attention.

"And Batman wants you two to come back to the Mountain with us. Actually, he wanted you two coming back with us five minutes ago. So he won't be feeling the aster if we're late." No need to tell me twice.

After boarding the bio-ship (it was so cool!), we headed over to the Mountain. It didn't take long.

And there was the Batman in all his glory. "Team. Black Areo. Kat." Ah yes, a man of many words he was. Standing next to him was almost the entire League. Including Kat's dad. Well I haven't seen him in a long time.

"Dad?" Well it's safe to say that she didn't know he was going to be here. Fuse was a very nice man. He was one of the few who didn't mind that I hardly talked when around other people.

"Hi, sweetheart," He smiled.

"What are you doing here?" She asked while Robin was still laughing at her for blushing.

"Who are you?" Who knew the clone could talk? And I thought that Batman hardly talked. This was the first time Superboy, or whatever his name was, had spoken.

All Fuse did was laugh. He was so strange sometimes. "My name is Fuse. Kat there is my daughter." The way that he answered clearly annoyed Kat. Fuse was known for avoiding questions.

"Kat, Black Areo, there is a reason why I asked Robin to bring you two back here. You both are talented and skilled heroes, and you fought bravely today, helping without being asked."

_Keep 'em coming._ It took all my mental power to keep from saying it. Wasn't Batman always the one to get right to the point? _Spit it out already!_

"So, the League, Fuse, and I have come to a conclusion, a proposition we would like to present." Good God, he needed to say it already!

"Would the two of you like to join Young Justice?"

_Oh. My. God._

* * *

**So, how was it? Hope that you liked it. Please review. We need it!**

_**Word Counts:****  
**_**This Chapter: ****3,481  
****Total: 11,903**

**Sincerely the ever iNSanE,**

**Synk**


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N:_

_Major apologies for the ridiculous (in my opinion) delay._

_Life caught up with me._

_But school (finally) got out on Tuesday, and I've spent the better part of the past four days on__ this chapter, as well as my other stories._

…_this chapter did _not_, as they say, want to be written._

_Also, I have references to Jonathan Larson's (glorious) musical RENT in here, revolving around Elena. One is more obvious than the other. Basically, I us__ed the "Detachment from life" that the character Mark Cohen displays, and also made her an amateur photographer. I didn't mean to make it a sorta-reference, it just kinda happened that way, and then I went back to spell check and was like "oh."_

_But it's p__art of a sub-plot I'm planning, so…yeah. Plus, I like the idea of having a character faceted like that._

_Anyway, Without Further Ado…_

* * *

Darkness: Chapter Five:   
~Elena's POV~

I was stunned.

It had been expected, yeah of course, but that didn't mean I was prepared for it.

Next to me, the Boy Wonder nudged his shoulder against mine. It was a discreet movement. An onlooker wouldn't have noticed if not specifically looking for it. But it jolted me into action, nonetheless.

"Yes! Yes, I would gladly accept your offer." I saw my dad smirk at my formality, which I didn't quite understand, because he was the one who taught me to respond like that.

"I'll have to think about it." Aven spoke up from my other side. I looked at her, my thin eyebrows threatening to disappear into my hairline. She caught my expression and shrugged.

"Very well." Batman nodded and exited, just like that, most of the League following suit. My father and Black Canary, however, stayed behind.

Canary asked to speak briefly with Aven. I figured she was giving contact information (even though I could easily do that just as well…then I remembered most people didn't know that Aven and I knew each other). My father pulled me aside at the same time. I shot Aven another confused look over my shoulder as he ushered me to a far wall of the Mountain.

"You have to understand that you must live here now." I balked at him.

"_What?_ Dad, you can't be serious?" I squeaked in disbelief. My father just stared down at me with a steadiness that made me all the angrier.

"It is the only way." He said, as if it explains everything in the world.

"That makes _no sense_, dad!" I broke eye contact, deciding pinching the bridge of my nose would be much more effective than looking at him.

"Well, what do you want me to say, Elena? It _is _the only way." His beat-around-the-bush act was really pissing me off to new extents than before.

"You wanna get rid of me? Finally save me from Mom's wrath, but don't want me around?"

No response.

I looked up at my father again. He was standing stiffly, his face a blank mask.

_He's already distancing himself, _I thought ruefully, _Detachment is the first step when faced with a difficult situation. He taught you that._

_He taught you that._

_No…_you_ taught _him_._

…And _that _thought was the one that made me snap.

"Oh, I see now. You figured, 'oh, I'll ask Batman to offer Elena a spot on this covert team so that I don't have to deal with her living in my house but she'll still be close enough to help when I need her.' Yeah, that's exactly it, isn't it? Well you know what, Dad? Fine. I'll stay here. I don't _care_." I knew it was overly harsh, and I knew I would regret it, but said it anyway. Then I did the only other thing I could think of: I turned around and left him standing there.

I didn't look back.

I knew that if I did, I would see the hurt etched across his face and come running with an apology. I couldn't do that. I had been doing that for who-knows-how-long now, and it had to stop. I had to stand up for myself.

Even if it meant yelling at my own father.

_Wow, I'm such a horrible person._

I just kept walking, past Canary and Aven, past a kitchen, a living room of sorts, down an endless hallway of doors. I felt myself doing exactly what my father had just done to me as I turned a corner and was met with more doors: I detached.

See, I had found, at an incredibly young age, that detachment was how to make your life easier. When something bad happened, you detach; when you don't want to be in a situation, you detach; when you have to play an unbiased mediator or the like, you detach. It was the best way, in my young mind, to handle situations – my father being a superhero, my rather eccentric family, et al. It helped that I had physical objects to _help _me detach.

Cue my camera.

It's sorta cliché, and most definitely _not_ the proper way to use a camera, but I couldn't just whip out my powers whenever I wanted, now could I? The answer being, no, I couldn't. Still can't. But I _could _pull out a camera whenever I wanted. Photography became my way to distance myself from the world and launch into my own. I don't remember a time when I didn't have at the very least one of those cheep-o disposable cameras with me, just in case something happened.

Anyway, where was I…?

Oh, _yeah._

I didn't know where I was. I just continued to shuffle aimlessly down corridor after corridor. I had no idea where Aven had went, or for that matter, why she had to 'think about it'; I didn't know where Robin or any of the others were. Even with my enhanced sense of direction, I couldn't figure out where the _hell_ I was.

I was debating whether or not to give up and just scream until someone came running when I felt a hand on my shoulder, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

"You lost?" Asked the familiar lit.

"Yeah." Dick slung a friendly arm around my shoulders and directed me back in the direction he came from.

"So, what am I calling you?" I asked. He shrugged.

"What am I calling you?" He responded. I shrugged.

"Touché. I guess Elena. Or El. Either one. We've had this conversation regarding me before. But seriously." I stopped walking and stared at him.

"Rob or Robin. Not everyone knows." He supplied before gently pushing me along once more, "Now come on, everyone's waiting."

"Why is everyone waiting?" I felt my eyes widen. I had seen movies like this; take the new kid and make them jump off a roof or go through a series of heinous tasks. But Rob just chuckled.

"Stay whelmed. Seriously, it doesn't matter what they think of you, cause you already saved Kid Idiot's skin." I felt my face grow hot. We walked the rest of the way down the hall, out the door, and onto the lawn in silence. It was a nice day.

…hopefully I didn't get burnt.

"What's up with that Black Areo, anyway?" Kid Flash's voice drifted towards me long before I could see his fiery hair.

"Dunno." The blonde – Artemis – vocalized, and I could make out noncommittal sounds of agreement from the rest of Robin's – of _my_ team members.

"They like talking about other people." I mused as we climbed a hill. Rob laughed again, and opened his mouth to respond.

But I never got to hear that response, because Young Justice had heard Robin's laughter and had run to join us.

"Hello, Kat. We've already met, I'm Kid Flash, but you can call me Wally." The canary-yellow-clad speedster said after _running_ up to me, going straight from 'friendly' to 'creepy trying-to-hit-on-me' in five seconds flat.

"Elena. And before you continue doing…this," I made a wide hand gesture to symbolize him, "I am not interested in it." I saw his shoulders sag a little, and instantly felt bad, but soon enough, Artemis had given a throaty laugh and moved to stand next to me.

"I like you already." She declared, making Wally and I both turn red.

"Uh…thanks." I muttered with a smile.

"So, Elena, where are you from?" The overly-cheery voice of Miss Martian – I mean, M'gann (Robin told me later) – pierced through the conversation.

"Gotham."

"So, you obviously knew the Boy Wonder here previously." Artemis concluded aloud for everyone. I nodded.

"But I'm staying here at Mt. Justice." I added for good measure, knowing that it was going to be the next question. They all just kind of looked at me for a minute, no doubt remembering the fact that my own _father_ was there just a few hours beforehand.

Robin recovered first, as expected: "Why?"

"Not quite sure, Daddy-o was just like, 'You're staying at Mount Justice'." I gave a little half-hearted shrug before making my way under a nearby tree. I wasn't trying to get away from them, the sun was just _really_ hot and I'm _really _pale.

They all gathered around me. Rob leaned back against the trunk of the tree on my one side, Artemis sprawling herself in the grass on the other. Wally, M'gann, Aqualad/Kaldur, and Superboy/Conner finished the circle.

And that's how my first day as part of a team went. They bombarded me with questions until the moon was high amongst the clouds and all of our stomachs (particularly Wally's) were protesting loudly.

When Wally finally declared that talking time was over and he "Needed to eat" and everyone got up to follow, I trailed behind, pulling my phone out instead. I got to work on the two texts I had been dying to send all day:

_April 29, 7:30 PM:_

_Hey Dyl,  
__Have you talked to my dad lately?  
__I wanna know if it's just __me that he never gives straight answers to.  
__I have a feeling it is just me._

_April 29, 7:32 PM:_

_Just thought you might wanna know –  
__I really like these guys.  
__They're cool.  
_…_not trying to pressure you into joining YJ.  
__But it'd be cooler with you.  
__-E  
__PS __– my dad's making me stay at Mt. J.  
__I dunno why.  
__Any thoughts?_

I pressed "Send" just as I heard the muffled footfalls of someone approaching me.

"You coming?" The Boy Wonder asked, raising an eyebrow. I noted that he had swapped his domino mask for a pair of dark sunglasses.

"Yeah…I just had to text my cousin a question…irrelevant to anything that happened today, I just kinda remembered out of the blue." I laughed for good measure at the end, trying not to make it obvious that I was (partially) lying through my teeth.

If Robin had noticed, he didn't say anything, because he just turned back towards the mountain and led the way inside.

"Why'd you come back out?" I asked as we approached the pale yellow lights and warmth of the kitchen.

"Figured you had gotten lost again." He teased, pushing me playfully.

I pushed him back, ignoring the buzz of my phone.

_Whatever it is, it can wait. It's probably just Dyl agreeing with me. He's obsessed with his phone._ I thought, matching Dick's wry smile with one of my own.

* * *

_End of Chapter Five!_

_Kinda weird ending, but like I said, this chapter did not like me._

_So, review or whatever, and we'll see you next chapter!_

_Word Counts: __  
__This chapter: 1,748__  
__Total: 13,651_

_SAHW, __  
__Vid._

_PS- if you want to do art or whatever for that new image manager thingy, let us know! No pressure or anything, but it'd be wicked if there was wicked ''Cover Art'' for our story. So…yeah! NOW I'm done. See ya'll next chapter!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey y'all! How's it been? All has been good over on my end. Hope that you enjoy this wonderful chapter that I have put together just for you! As for which one of you, that's for you guys to fight about and for me to sit back and laugh about._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Darkness: Chapter Six:   
~Aven's POV~

Okay. Let's get something straight. I was not expecting that. Well, maybe a little. But that's beside the point. I mean, really!

There were so many thoughts going through my head. Such as:

_'Oh my flippin' God! The Batman wants me to join the team! A team of Superheros! OMG!'_

And: '_He is going to kill me. I'm dead. Nice knowing you world. It's time to join the World of the Dead.'_

And that was just the start of them. The rest I blocked out. They tend to give you a headache if you listen for too long.

It had been less than been a day since he had invited us to the team, and I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Why in the whole freakin' universe would Batman want us, or more importantly me, on the team?

Sure, we were pretty good at fighting. And we did help the little heroes. But still! Grr, all this thinking is making my head hurt! ….That might explain why I get headaches in school all the time... wow.

But I digress. They are freakin' strong (Superboy), and smart (Robin), and pretty (Artemis). And I'm just... me.

Now I am aware that I sound like an insecure, angsty teen, but I can't help it! It comes with the territory. In the movies and books you always see the main character standing in a dark alleyway brooding. And there's almost always that stupid fake rain. I really hate those things, don't you? But anyways, back to my problems. There was no cold, fake rain or dark, creepy alleys for me. Instead I went to the one and only place where I felt relaxed: the library.

Stupid, right? Wrong. This library had everything. From boring old history books to the latest in hero fashion. And it helped that heroes got in whenever they wanted. Like at three in the morning. And they had a pretty cool manga selection. So I'm a geek, what of it? I love the Japanese art! It is so entertaining!

After sitting there for about, say, three minutes, I got bored. Not that that's new or anything. So I got up and went to talk to one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. No, I am not exaggerating. She is amazing! Best cook ever!

Sarah was almost always here for the night/afternoon shift. She loved to talk to the supers that just wanted to get away from things for a bit. She had long blond hair, about to the bottom of her ribs. She had greenish-blue eyes and lots of freckles. Standing at about 5' 3", she was only about three inches shorter than me.

The moment that I got to the checkout counter, she was talking.

"Did you hear about the new guy that works at Starbucks? It's the one right down the street, and he is so cute! He has the dreamiest eyes and the deepest voice. I swear I melt every time I hear him talk. I went up to him, like, five times to ask for a new drink just so he would talk to me. And every time he would smile and nod. Sigh, he is so amazing."

All in all it took exactly one minute for her to spew that entire thing. Not only is she boy crazy, but she is also happens to be a very fast talker. Unless you know just the right thing to do, she could go on for hours about one guy. But I love her for it. It helps to take my mind off things.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down chica."

When that didn't work, (not that I expected it to) I tried the sure-fire way to get her to shut up. Coffee. It has some kinda reverse affect on her. Instead of making her hyper, it calms her down. Good thing I was planning on talking to her. Thank God for the extra coffee I carry with me. Don't laugh. It's perfectly normal... ish.

"Sorry. It's just that, there have been, like, no girls around here lately. It's been so fudgin' empty! No one to rant to! Oh my God, I was so bored all last night and the night before that and the night before that and..."

"OK! Okay, I get it. You've been really bored lately. No need to go all crazy on me right now! I just came to see how you were doing."

She did nothing more than roll her eyes. "Yeah right, and I'm a superhero. What do you need suga'?" I opened my mouth to protest but she beat me to it. "You never come to just 'see how I'm doing' anymore. Although you totally should. We could get you a haircut. And maybe a pedicure. Oh! And maybe a manicure while we're at it. And..."

"Alright! I get it. I never come to see you anymore unless I need something. And, as sad as that is, it's true. I need some advice." I couldn't help but grimace. It was _so _not like me to ask for advice or help. I prefer to solve things on my own.

In a split second she was, what I call, sober again. Not that she was ever drunk; she just gets kinda out of control sometimes. "Is this Black Areo talking or Aven?"

"Black Areo"

"Okay then. What seems to be the problem? Boy issues or is it the baddies? Or the custom?" Around here if you want tips or help with anything hero related, you come to Sarah. She is very good at this whole Doctor Phil thing, some of the time.

"Well it's like this. Batman, yes _The _Batman, asked me to join a team of his. No I'm not going to tell you what team," I added when I saw the question about ready to burst out of her mouth, "But you know Murth. If he finds out, I'm so past dead. There won't be a body for them to find. But I really want to join! It would be so amazing to be able to go actual missions and what not. And then there's the _Him_. If I run into him again, well let's just say that it won't end well for anyone."

She just nodded, stroking am imaginary beard. After another two minutes of silence, I was about ready to burst. It never took this long for her to answer! Grrrrr... And of course my insecurities just had to come back right now!

Before I got the chance to start listening to the Voices, which decided now would be a good time to show up, she stated laughing. Not the normal fan-girl like giggles. Oh no, this was full on laughter. Complete with the thrown back head and hands on stomach.

All I could do was stare. And stare, and stare some more. Maybe she had finally cracked. Or maybe she had been taking lessons from the Joker. It sure did sound like him. Kinda creepy if you ask me. But then again, no one did, so just ignore me and carry on with your boring lives. Sitting at home, watching TV. Doing nothing. Ha! Who am I kidding, you have nothing better to do than to read this story, am I correct?

Well anyway. Back to my friend who is still having her version of a Joker laugh attack.

"Well? Why are you laughing? You know what; I bet that you've finally lost it. That has to be it. There is no other explanation."

She wiped the tears out of her eyes and attempted to stifle her laughter behind her hands. Not that it worked or anything. "Sorry, sorry. It's just, that of all things, you need help with **that**! Ha! It's just, so funny! I couldn't help myself!" And she once again broke down into a fit of laughter. "Sorry, again. But here's the thing. I really can't help you with that." Before I could get a chance to yell at her, and trust me I would have, she ducked down behind the counter. "It's just that, the answer is so easy! You must be stupi-, err, slower than previously thought to not know the answer!"

"Well, won't you enlighten me then! If I'm so slow then why don't you help me!" At this point in time, I was enraged. My pride, or what is left of it, was greatly ruined. Even though the day had been fairly good in my book, my head was not happy with me for all the thinking I had done lately. And it really didn't help that Sarah had just insulted me. It was stupid to get mad at her for such a little thing, but really!

"Nope. You have to use that near empty head to think! And no pounding me into dust for speaking my mind! You do it all the time, hypocrite." By then she had stuck her head back up and was now sticking her tongue out at me. Crazy girl.

I let out a huff. "Fine, but you can count on me giving you a bad report next time I see your boss!" I finished in a sing-song voice. It was her one weakness. That and hot boys. But she hated people thinking badly about her. Even if it wasn't true.

"Fine! Fine. Just try not to over think things. You have a tendency to look into things too much. Just try to, well, - you know what! Never mind! Just go find some thugs to beat up or something 'cause I know that you think best while doing that."

Oh yes. I probably should have mentioned that even though people came to her for advice, she sucks at actually saying it. It can become very tiresome.

So, thugs it was.

**~BLACK AREO~**

Without wasting any time, I went to the one place that any sane person would avoid: Crime Alley.

No matter the time of day, or night in this case, there was always people to beat up. It's the one good thing about that place. Really, there is _nothing_ else good about that smelly place.

This also happens to be one of the places I come to calm down and think. Some people can sit down on their beds and be able to figure through things that way. For me, it's beating people up. It's so much more fun than you would think. Or maybe it's just me. Yeah that's probably it. There's just something about hitting people till their unconscious that gets my brain working. That's another thing about school. They don't let you use violence, thus my brain stays dead. Simple as that.

Well anywho, back to the situation at hand. There were about ten thugs in all. Not very many considering the place I happened to pick as my new Thinking Spot.

Three of them had the old fashion weapon: the crowbar. Two of them had six inch knifes. And the rest, well, they weren't smart enough to carry any weapons. Big mistake.

They took one look at me and laughed. Not that I heard it. My mind was already on other things. Item One on The List: What had Sarah meant by saying that the answer was 'so easy!'?

Dodge two fists. Sharp kick to the head of Thug One. Twist arm of Thug Five. Push pressure point on neck to knock him out and kick away his knife.

I mean, it's clearly not that easy. Unless she's right and I'm over thinking it. That's probably true. I do have a tendency to do that. But, then again, so does every human being! It's our nature to over think the littlest things.

One back flip. Round house kick to Thug One and use momentum to kick Thug Ten to the ground. Twist away from Thug Seven and punch his lights out.

So, now that we have that down (not really), on to Item Two; The Team. This one could take me awhile.

Dodge knife and crowbar. Flip over Thug Four to prevent him from using his knife to cut me again (just a small little cut on the arm, no big deal). Twist his arm and push him into his buddy, Thug Eight.

To join that team would be so amazing. It's an honor to even be offered a place on the team. But if he finds out, I'll probably become homeless. Not good. And I can't keep it from him for too long. It would like trying to get the Batman to smile. Impossible. Although, that would be interesting. You know, the smiling thing, not the hiding from Murth thing. That would be deadly.

Grab Thug Two to use as a human shield from Thug One's crowbar. Use Thug Two's crowbar to twist Thug One's away from him and kick him behind the knees. He hits his head and is down for the count. Knock out Thug Two.

But he really doesn't have a say in how I run my life. He's not my real dad so I don't have to listen to him. Even if Mom says I do. But he still has some of his old contacts with him. If he really wanted to, he could call one of them up and have them take care of me. Not that they were anything special. I could take them all down in a matter of seconds, but still, he has a lot of contacts.

Thug Nine punches me in the shoulder. Return the punch to his nose. Thug Ten Hits me behind the knee. Roll forward and spin around. Use Arrows to yank his legs out from under him. Dodge Thug Three and punch him in the face with my Arrow Gloves. He's out.

But if I join the team, then I'll have people to help me if that happens. Not that they would know that they were protecting me, the team would just think that they were some random thugs sent after them by some big shot villain. That could work. By that brings us to the next Item; Murth.

Jump back from the pipe Thug Ten now has. Ignore the shouts from the others. Coat my arm in Arrows to soften the blow from the pipe. Flick my wrist to wrap the Arrows around the pipe and pull. Use pipe to knock out Ten.

It wouldn't be too bad if he kicked me out of the house. I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore, and I could always stay at the Cave. But that would mean leaving him with my family and I can't do that. Who knows when he could strike out at them. And that would be just horrible. So, leave the house is out of the question and so is hoping that he would just shrug his shoulders and turn a blind eye to me.

Flip over Ten and bring down foot on Thug Eight who is just getting up. He hits the wall behind him and slides down unconscious. Use momentum from the punch Six gave me to dodge the knife in Four's hand. Trip Four and he lands on Six. Knife skids away. Two quick jabs at their necks and their out.

I could always say I got a job. It wouldn't really be a lie. I would be working to save people's lives. That counts as a job, right? Well I sure do hope so. Too bad it doesn't pay very well. Or at all. Well this is going to be harder. Without any money he'll know that I was lying. Looks like I would have to get a paying job too. Sigh.

A quick dodge and a punch-kick combo and Nine's out too. That sure did go by fairly quick. And it really did help. Somewhat. I still have to find a job and keep the team thing from Murth. This is going to be a very interesting couple of weeks.

After a quick rounding up of the weapons and the unconscious thugs, I think back to what Black Canary told me. All that I had to do to get a hold of one of the heroes was call. Easy as that. The only problem, I don't remember the number. Isn't that sad? Just because the fighting thing helps get my brain working doesn't mean that I can remember any better than before. My brain tends to get rid of the "unnecessary" things. Like that **very important** number. Never trust me with those types of things. It will end badly. Always.

So I did that next best thing. I texted Elena. I opened my phone (yes I carry my phone with me when I go to beat people up, so what?) only to find that she beat me to it.

_April 29, 7:32 PM:_

_Just thought you might wanna know –  
__I really like these guys.  
__They're cool.  
_…_not trying to pressure you into joining YJ.  
__But it'd be cooler with you.  
__-E  
__PS – my dad's making me stay at Mt. J.  
__I dunno why.  
__Any thoughts?_

Well that's weird. Why in the freakin' world would she be staying at the Cave when she has a perfectly nice home here in Gotham? But then again, her dad has always been a little on the strange side. Nothing he ever does makes sense. At least, not to me.

_April 29, 7:40 PM_

_No idea  
__I've made up my mind  
__mind telling The Bat?  
__I forgot the contact info  
__See you at the cave in an hour?  
__-A_

After hitting 'Send', I shot and Arrow up to the top of one of the walls and pulled myself up. Now all I had to do was get to the zeta-thingy in one piece. Easy enough.

And before you ask, yes I did just jinx myself. It's the classic thing. The heroin says 'oh nothing's going to happen to me, I'll just walk down this creepy alley and not have my weapons ready'. The only difference is 1) I'm not walking down a creepy alleyway, 2) My weapons are always ready, and 3) I'm in Crime Alley. That should speak for itself.

And low and behold, before I could get twenty feet out of the alley I was fighting in, I was knocked unconscious and dragged away. Wasn't my world just filled with rainbows and unicorns? And the worst part of this is the fact that whoever hit me upside the head had hit me exactly where Harley Quinn had. This just sucks.

* * *

_And... Scene!_

_Anyone else notice the fact that Aven seems to get hit in the head a lot? I feel kinda sorry for her, but I just can't help it! Hope that this chapter is worthy of a review! (hint, hint!)_

_Word Counts__: __  
__This Chapter: 3,097__  
__Total: 16,748_

_Sincerely the ever InSanE,_

_Synk_


	7. Chapter 7

_Just a reminder, mind-link speech is in quotes AND italics…they use it in the second half of the chapter. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Darkness: Chapter Seven:  
~Elena's POV~

I awoke to "Strange Charm"…again. Groaning, it took me a moment to register the gray walls and plain sheets as my new "home".

"Gotta give this place a makeover, stat." I muttered, reaching over blindly to pick up my phone.

"Hey, Dyl." I grumbled into my cell.

"Morning, sunshine." He said cheekily, and I could picture the Spencer Smirk on his face.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked, at first as a complaint, but then realization dawned and my voice rose slightly in panic. _What if I overslept? My first full day on the job and I oversleep? That would be _so_ embarrassing._

"Relax, El. It's only six thirty. I just got into work. You didn't oversleep or anything." Dylan assured me as if he had read my mind. Creepy.

"Good, good. You scared me for a minute there. Now, I assume you're calling about my text –"

Dylan cut me off, "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry I didn't text you back, I left my phone on my desk last night, took my work phone home instead by accident."

My stomach dropped, and the mild panic I experienced just moments before came back, full-force.

"You…you left your phone at work?" I managed to stutter.

"Yeah, ridiculous, right? You'd think that since I'm so attached to the thing, I'd keep a hold of it."

"You'd think." I let out a hollow laugh.

"But anyway, El, listen to me. It's not just you; he does it to me and my dad too, all the time. He's a busy guy, and has a lot on his plate. You gotta cut him some slack, okay? You'll understand when you're older." _You don't know the half of it, Dylan,_ I thought, picturing my father fighting villains as Fuse, _You don't even know a quarter._

"Sure, thanks, Dyl." I said half-heartedly. I had been hoping for my older cousin to help, not just reiterated things I already knew. If Dylan had picked up on my lack of enthusiasm, he didn't say anything.

"That's the spirit! Hey, I have to go, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright, Bye, Dylan." I ended the call begrudgingly and stared at the screen.

_One New Text Message_

Oh, how I wished I had heat vision.

_**Click.**_

_April 29, 7:40 PM_

_No idea  
I've made up my mind  
Mind telling the Bat?  
I forgot the contact info  
See you at the Cave in an hour?  
-A_

I felt like I was going to be sick. The words fuzzed a little on the screen.

Aven had sent that text _eleven hours ago. _My thoughts immediately went into hyper-drive.

_Ohmygod, ohmygod, she never showed up, something must've happened to her. Oh, why did I not look at the text before! Idiot, you knew Dylan would call to talk about it; he's not the texting type. Ohmygod, what if she's dead or worse kid – _

_STOP IT! _I silently screamed, effectively muting my racing thoughts. I quickly jumped out of bed and got ready. I braided my hair last, after throwing on the only clothes I had with me – my suit.

Artemis had been nice enough to let me borrow some pajamas (a total 180 from our first encounter), but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing them around because One, they were _green_ (I prefer orange…or, you know, _any_ other color.) And Two, they were, like, _huge_ on me.

I schooled my face in the mirror before I left my new room. I couldn't look as frazzled as I felt. I had to (at the very least) _appear_ calm.

I found the main room quickly; and to my luck, the entire team was sitting, in uniform, around the kitchen island.

"There you are, Elena! Want some breakfast?" M'gann asked cheerily. I got the vibe the night before that it was every-man-for-themselves when it came to meals, but the fact that she offered made me the teensiest bit happy. You know, considering the bomb I was about to drop.

"Guys," I began, my surprisingly steady hand holding up my phone (text and all) for them to see, "we have a problem."

**~KAT~**

"So, lemme get this straight. Black Areo texted you, roughly _twelve hours ago,_ saying she'd be at Mount Justice in an _hour_, but never showed, and you didn't check your phone until this morning, and now we're going to scour Gotham for her because you think she's been _kidnapped_?" Wally half-shouted, half-whined at me from across the Bio-ship.

"Yes, Kid Flash." I said as calmly as I could, sighing inwardly.

"And we're going after Harley Quinn."

I repeated my affirmation.

"And why, _exactly_, are we going after the clown girl?"

"Because, _Kid Flash,_ I have reason to believe that Harley was the kidnapper. Areo was in a fight with her the other day." I sounded incredibly cold, even to my own ears. But in my defense, Wally's disbelief and accusations were _really_ beginning to get to me.

"And _why_ do you know _that_? What are you, BFFs?" Wally continued with his tirade. _Yes_, I wanted to spat, _yes we are._ But then the reasonable part of me realized that that particular response could potentially have multiple negative repercussions, because

A) Aven and I aren't _exactly_ BFFs. I don't really know what we are, mostly because she's hard to read and I really don't know what she thinks of me;

B) Aven never _told_ me she fought with Quinn;

And C) I overheard her bad-mouthing Quinn to those goons the day we were supposed to meet Bats and may – or – may not have put two and two together to make like, eight or something.

I was about to give another distant, calculated answer when Rob beat me to it.

"I contacted Batman and he told me. Plus, Quinn escaped custody yesterday afternoon. Now quit complaining, KF. Missing a day off is not the end of the world. This is _way_ more whelming than sitting around the Cave all day, anyway." I couldn't tell whether or not he was lying. _Damn, he's good._

Wally sighed, "But this is a wild goose chase!"

"Why are we going after her, anyway? Why is Batman even letting us? She can take care of herself." Artemis (who at this point should really be named Skepty Mc-Bipolar-Pants) piped up.

"Because Black Areo is a member of our team, and she may be in danger." Aqualad finally cut in, successfully terminating the argument.

We sat in a prolonged awkward silence until we landed on – surprise, surprise – the very same roof they had landed on the day before. We all filed out of the Bio-ship before Miss Martian turned to me.

"Just to warn you, I will be mentally linking our minds so we can speak to each other telepathically." She said.

"Only what I want you to hear?" The words are out before I can stop them, and my hand involuntarily flies to cover my mouth. (Old habits die hard) But apparently, this is the typical response, because the Martian just nodded.

"Alrighty then. That's kinda wicked. You don't even need comms, really." That earned a chuckle from Wally, and my redemption from his earlier (not entirely displaced) anger. Although _he _should be the one _asking _for forgiveness, not _giving_ it.

"_We should split up."_ Robin said, only it's not Robin, it's Robin's thoughts. This took me a moment to wrap my head around, but once I did, I immediately – mentally, mind you – asked, _"How do you wanna cover it?"_

We quickly divided ourselves up: Kid Flash and Artemis head out first, going towards the slums (all of them); Miss Martian, Superboy, and Aqualad leave next – since they're the largest group, they got the joyous job of checking out all of Quinn's known hideouts (some more reliable than others). Robin and I, being from Gotham, therefore the most experienced, (although Artemis seemed to know _exactly_ where she was going) drew the short straw that was Crime Alley. Yay.

Crime Alley was _not_ by a long-shot my favorite place. It was creepy and dank, not to mention filled to the brim with brainless thugs. But there were some places that Aven – I mean, Black Areo – could have been brought if she _wasn't _taken by Quinn.

I doubted that, though.

Fuse and I had gone up against Harley Quinn, and I knew that Black Areo would _definitely _rub her the wrong way. Which isn't the best for Areo, obviously.

"Stay traught." Robin murmured as we reached the unofficial "border" of the Alley, which really wasn't _just_ an alley; it was a whole _section_ of the city, practically.

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to figure out what _traught_ meant. But I had to hand it to the Boy Wonder, he's a clever one.

We ran across the rooftops, careful to keep to the shadows, which wasn't hard because it seemed like this part of the city was constantly _darker_ than everywhere else. It _was_ daylight, but that didn't mean that Crime Alley was much less…crime-ful?

That was when something red and black caught my eye.

"There." I said, pointing below us. Robin just looked at me, skeptical.

"Ugh, hold on." I morphed into a sleek orange-and-black striped house cat and scrambled down the fire escape to the alley below. I quickly picked up the thing and bounded back up, dropping it in front of my companion's feet before morphing back.

Rob picked it up as I wiped at my mouth.

"Ick, the bad thing about cats is you have to pick everything up with your mouth. Gross." I complained out loud, more for my benefit than his. It's not like he would particularly care, right?

"What is this? And how'd you see that from here?" He asked. The black-and-red thing was a small square of cloth that looked like it had been snagged on something and torn.

"It's a piece of Areo's costume. And it's dark enough down there that my night vision's kicking in." I responded. The cat part of me gave certain things _besides_ the ability to morph into various cats. My night vision, enhanced hearing, improved sense of direction, and better-than-average flexibility and balance set me apart from normal humans.

"Sweet. Hey, can you change colors?" I blinked up at him, not fully understanding.

"Why?"

"I'm just wondering. I've only ever seen you as black and orange."

_Ooohhh, he's talking about fur. Duh. _

I tugged a bit on the end of my braid and sighed before admitting, "Not that I know of. I've tried. But I'm always black and orange. Some cats, like a Snow Leopard and a Lion, my fur is the color of my hair; I think it's because they're naturally light-colored. Others, a Panther to be exact, there's no orange at all, just black. But the cats I typically morph into – Tiger, Jaguar, Lynx, and House Cats – they're all black and orange."

Robin just kind of looked at me for a moment, as if studying me, then said "Okay", and went back to analyzing the torn piece of costume I found.

I occupied my mind by studying the area.

_Let's see…if she was being dragged away, then that's part of the shoulder, which means they went east…if I were Harley Quinn, where would I go? _With that thought in mind, I scanned for buildings that _don't _look as abandoned as everything else, and…_there._

"Rob?"

"Hmm?"

"What about there?" I asked, and he's instantly standing at my shoulder.

"There would probably prove to be a good place to start." He agreed, and we took off across the rooftops to get to where I had pointed out.

AKA, the only building we'd seen so far that was both big enough for Quinn's tastes and didn't have a petty crook trying to sell illegal shit on the doorstep.

Sure enough, we peered through the grimy skylight to see the one-and-only Quinn herself, in all of her creepy clown-esque glory.

"There's Quinn…" I said, trailing off, searching the room for the person I _really_ wanted to see.

"And there's Black Areo." Rob finished, pointing to the far corner of the room. Sure enough, a tied-up and pissed-off Areo was there, glaring daggers at Quinn's back.

"_Guys, we found Quinn and Black Areo."_ Rob told the team via mind link.

"_Where are you?" _Aqualad responded immediately, and Robin gave them all directions.

"Should we wait for them?" I asked him, and Robin gives me a sidelong glance.

"Do you really want to wait for them and leave Areo tied up for longer than she has to be?" I shot him the typical Spencer shit-eating grin before unlocking the skylight.

"Distract Quinn for me, won't you?" I said with a smirk as Robin slipped through. I followed quickly, holding onto the edge, waiting for Robin to distract so I could break Aven out.

Sure enough, I watched as a shadow darted across the other side of the abandoned warehouse floor, an eerie cackle accompanying it.

"Why doesn't The Boy Wonder come out to play?" Quinn drawled.

Another cackle, and a smoke bomb.

I let go of the ledge, morphing as I dropped to the ground into what I normally considered my "typical" transformation, a tiger.

I raced over to Aven under the cover of the smoke.

"Hi there." I muttered, and behind me I heard the stamping feet of Quinn's backup.

Aven just glared at me, mouth gagged.

"Oh, right, let's see here…" I trailed off, and for a moment I wondered what it must feel like to her, being as she was currently talking to a _tiger_, but I shook off the thought and started at her bonds.

"Rope? Really? Is she _that_ unintelligent?" I ripped through the rope tying her arms to a pipe. She undoes the gag before untying the rope binding her ankles together.

"Took you long enough." She muttered under her breath. I sighed.

"I know, I know, but in my defense I kinda didn't check my phone until this morning." I explained, and she nodded in response before rushing off to go kick ass.

Looking around, I saw that the rest of the team had arrived during my stint as rescuer, and they were all going up against goons. It was eerily similar to the fight the day before, only this time Dick and Aven were tag-teaming up against Harley Quinn. I heard Aven shouting at Quinn over the echoing din that was the bad guys getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter. I smirked inwardly.

"Kat!" Kaldur said from my left, and I turned to see two guys coming at me. I launched myself at the first, swiping at his chest as we hit the ground and barreled end over end into the second. I detached myself from the two unconscious guys, swiping at the second for good measure.

"Need some help, Aqualad?" I asked, launching myself yet again into one of the four goons that had tried to team up and take Kaldur together.

"Hello!" I chirped as I landed on the guy's chest, and watched in amusement as his eyes grew wide.

"K-Kat? I thought Fuse's sidekick was dead!" He stuttered, and I genuinely laughed at that.

"No, no, my good sir. Just took a little vacation. You can tell all of your friends that, too. Wouldn't want anyone to think I was dead. That'd be no fun." I informed him before slamming his head into the ground, knocking him out cold.

Together, Aqualad and I finished off the three remaining guys. We walked over to where the rest of the team was surrounding a thoroughly captured Harley Quinn.

"It seems that people have been spreading some nasty rumors about me. Apparently, I'm dead." I told them as I morphed back. They all laughed.

"You're a whole different animal when you're dealing with the bad guys, aren't you, Kat?" Wally said, only half-joking.

"What can I say? Sometimes they just really piss me off." I responded, giving a toothy grin.

Miss Martian turned to Aven, "Black Areo, are you alright?" I suppressed a chuckle. Definitely _not_ something Areo gets asked usually (at least not to my knowledge).

"Yeah, I'm fine. No thanks to Quinn."

Kaldur stepped up to her. "Well, we welcome you to the Team. It is unfortunate that it is under these circumstances." Aven smiled slightly, nodding her thanks.

"But hey, we can celebrate when we get back to the Cave, right?" Wally added, which made Artemis roll her eyes. That did not go unnoticed by the speedster. "What? Oh, come on, we got another new team mate, it's a job well done, we deserve some celebration time!"

"You just want to celebrate because your idea of a celebration is a feast, KF." Robin teased, making everyone laugh.

We stopped abruptly, however, when Batman arrived, Superman, Black Canary, and (surprisingly) Fuse right behind him.

"Good work. Welcome to the Team, Black Areo. You may all go home now." Bats said in his gravelly voice, the other members of the League present standing stoically behind him.

"Come on, guys, the Bio-ship's parked on the roof." M'gann said, heading towards the door. We all followed behind her, I at the back of the group.

A gloved hand clamped onto my shoulder, and I whipped around to come face-to-face with my father once again. I gulped.

"Listen, Kat –" His voice dropped, "– El, I'm sorry. I can't explain now, but I promise, I'll make it up to you. For now, just trust me. This is what's best for you."

"It's fine, Dad, really. I understand." I respond quietly, putting on a fake smile. My father squeezed my shoulder gently before walking back to where the other Leaguers were dealing with Quinn and all of her unconscious back-up.

"Oh, hi." I stammered, turning back towards the door to find Robin right in front of me.

"Didn't want to let you get lost." He responded, slinging a friendly arm around my shoulders.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" I huffed, and he cackled.

"Never." He lets the silence stretch on for a moment as we ascended up to the roof before asking, "You alright?"

"Yup," He shot me a look, "I promise, I'm fine." I told him finality as we climbed aboard the Bio-ship. I took the seat next to Aven; Robin sat next to Kid Flash.

"Let's go, beautiful! It's time to party!" He said to M'gann, pumping his fist in the air.

"You _like_ these guys?" Aven whispered to me.

I watched them all talking and laughing for a moment, before sighing and telling her:

"They sorta grow on you."

Because there was no other way to explain the fact that in only two or so days they had become my family.

* * *

_Ta-da! End of chapter seven! Yay!_

_Hope you all liked it._

_Word Counts:  
__This chapter: 3,144  
Total: 19,892_

_SAHW,  
Vid._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hey y'all how ya doin'? Well here is the long awaited chapter... oh who am I kidding; it hasn't been that long... has it?_

_Well here's is my new chapter! Hope that you enjoy!_

_Oh and just so that you know, I do not own Walden Books. Just thought that you should know._

* * *

Darkness: Chapter Eight:  
~Aven's POV~

Over all, it was a very, very tiring rest of the day.

The first thing that made it so was the waking up in ropes thing. That alone could kill anyone's day.

Two was the fact that El/Kat hadn't shown up by the time I had woken up. Not to brag or anything, but I'm almost never late. Never. It bothers me when people are late, so naturally it would bother me when I'm late, no? So why hadn't she notice that I hadn't shown up awhile back and sent out the sniffer dogs?

Three, Harley Quinn had been in my face when I woke up. Not pretty. And ever so slightly terrifying. Not to mention, she really needs to lay off the onions, 'cause that is some nasty breath.

And finally, the questioning from the Bat. Let's do the math shall we. Twelve hours of being a prisoner + two hours of questioning = one very cranky Aven.

It began that way that any criminal would be questioned. Why were you there? What were you doing at said place? And so on and so forth. After that it began to differ. How did they manage to capture you? Why didn't you escape? What did the villain want? Blah blah blah. It was like the adults in _Charlie Brown_, you can never understand them. No matter how hard you try, they are always saying meaningless stuff. In one ear and out the other. Must be some kinda unwritten rule for adults: Ask the most boring, pointless things ever.

The questions were pretty easy to answer. I needed to get rid of some of my frustrations, so I went and beat some wanted guys up. Then I told them a summed up version of what happened next. Some random thug hit me over the head with a hard object of some sort, most likely a pipe or piece of wood. I woke up in one of those damn warehouse like things with a Hell-Raising headache. The kind that feels like someone is doing the tango in spiky shoes right behind your eyes.

After that, I had to improvise a bit. I wouldn't call it lying, 'cause I don't lie, I just pick and choose what parts I tell. It went a little like this.

"Shortly after I woke up, and mind you I woke up fast 'cause of Quinn's breath, they began the classic villain monologue. Any and all evil plans they had set out for me only with a Harley twist on it," now comes the Aven twist, "In all actuality I have no idea why she wanted me. I guess that it had something to do with the fact that I made fun of her outfit or something, us girls are very self-conscious about how we look. With the help of some of the goons, she managed to do what she called 'damage control'. Keeping the heroes in line or something."

From there I went on to tell the Leaguers present about the wonders of Harley's 'damage control', which included her thugs getting to beat me up in very colorful and interesting ways. Most of which look way more painful than they really were.

And that was it. No more explaining or questions. It helped that I probably looked like Death walking. And all that took two hours. Two frickin' hours of my life that I could have otherwise spent sleeping. They are not known to do things quickly that's for sure.

The moment I got out of the questioning, I went after Batman. I know what you're thinking 'Why would you go over to the Bat when three seconds ago you wanted to make like a banana and split?' Well my dears, would you like me to tell you? Of course you would. That is precisely why I won't. Haha, serves you right for sticking your nose where it don't belong.

But in all seriousness, which is a rare thing indeed, it was only to ask him a favor. To keep my real name and any info on me secret, including my eyes. That one mainly because of a certain snooping birdy.

"There is one thing wrong with your explanation of your stay with Harley Quinn, Areo." Okay, can't say that I didn't see this coming. He _is_ the Bat after all. The best dang detective there is. Although, I really like how my "new" name sounded. I could get use to hearing that.

"And that would be your Royal Highness?" I'm tired, cut me some slack.

His eyes narrowed into what was slowly becoming a Bat-glare. "Why didn't you use, what do you call them? Your Arrows? I'm sure that you could have simply cut the ropes and escaped if you had wanted to, but you did not. Why?" and there was the Bat-glare in full force. The only problem, when I'm this tired nothing scares me. Stupid, but true.

"She had my hands twisted in such a way that if I were to try to bust out my Arrows they would have gone right through my skull and that would be defeating the purpose, no?" I gave him a smirk accompanied by a raised eye brow. Over all it had taken me several long months to perfect and I tended to use it whenever I could. It kinda had the same effect as the Bat-glare, 'cept it just made me look a lot older and more, well, me.

And all he did was sigh. Of course the Bat wouldn't be affected by it, but it was still worth shot wasn't it? And the million dollar prize goes to the people who answered 'yes'. Congrats.

"Just, next time you feel the need to go and focus your anger, please try and refrain from being kidnapped, again." And with that he was out the door. Leave it to Batsy to sound all proper even at this hour of the day. Well that was kinda default since the Bat stayed up almost all night and then some. But back to the situation at hand.

Of all the days to be kidnapped, and then "beat up", why did it have to be today? The wondrous of wondrous days. The day that should be marked on the calendars as a national holiday. My 15th birthday.

**~BLACK AREO~**

One of my favorite ways to celebrate is to go to the local, safe, bookstore and buy as many books as I wanted/could afford. Which, considering the fact that I never bought anything, was quite a bit. The books usually lasted until the week after. I'm a very fast reader so I'm told.

And without further adieu, I welcome you to Walden Books. It had that wonderful old book smell and the kind old book clerk to match.

It only took me about seven point three minutes to find a good corner and some good newish books to read. I know the store like the back of my hand and can always find my way around the random piles of crap. Although I prefer the term 'organized chaos'. That's how my room is like. Drives my mom nuts. And my brothers, they both had some major OCD when it came to messes. I did it just to spite them. That and I was too lazy to do anything about it.

It only took about six seconds for my mind to start to wonder down the path of no return. I really hate it when my mind ignores the flashing, neon 'WARNING! DEATH AT END OF ROAD!' sign, but what could you do?

Without any solid proof I couldn't get Murth arrested yet. It would take some very serious effort on my part. Energy that I do not have at the moment and probably never will. But that was one of those things that was always on my mind. It only had a well worn 'CAUTION' sign. Nothing to be afraid of.

No, the real danger was thinking about what Harley had said. Most of what came out of her mouth was rubbish. Smelly, twisted rubbish. So why in the world won't my mind let it go?

Ever notice the number one way that the characters in books end up dying is 'cause that believed what the villain was saying? Sewing deceit or some such nonsense. They whisper some random form of temptation in their ear and sit back and watch the show. And then they come forward and reap the benefits. Always the same.

And that could very well be what Harley was doing. After all, who knows what goes on inside her head? Not even Batman would be brave enough to go into that Hellhole.

The only difference would be that Quinn had instead put that little demon inside of me to work again. Up until recently he had been unemployed. The best twelve hours of my life. And now he was back to work analyzing every little detail of every little thing. Looking for possible suspects. He was such a thorough worker, too. The Demon of Paranoia.

All it took was one little word and he was off to work whistling a happy, creepy, tune. And Harley Quinn had found that word.

"_Aven."_

Go away.

"_Aven." _More urgent this time. _"Aven!__"_

I said_ "_Go away_!"_ my eyes jerked open.

There standing in front of me was the kind old clerk. Mr. Pascent. And boy did he look startled.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you, but we're closing in thirty minutes, are there any books you would like to buy?" No matter how many times you insulted the guy or yelled at him (which is, like, never) he was always kind to you. He never got mad and was a great man all together.

"Um... yeah one sec." I gathered up all the books that I could hold at one time, which was a total of ten, and worked my way to the counter.

And the verdict is, two dollars and sixty-three cents left over. Not a bad way to spend some money.

The only bad thing about this place was the fact that since Mr. Pascent was that only one working it, he closed the store at 3:15 PM. Leaving me with another couple hours of Murth free time to kill.

So I did the one thing I was good at (besides kicking ass). Poetry.

**~BLACK AREO~**

Now I'm sure that all of you are laughing hysterically at me right now. _'What__ kick- ass superhero writes poems?'_Well my dears, I do. And just so you know, it's not your normal poetry. It's the creepy, dark, depressing stuff. The kind that Goths read. With the talk about killing yourself and all that. Only difference is, I refuse to kill myself. No way in Hell would I do that, which I find kinda funny considering that's more than likely where I would end up.

I made it back to my house around 4:00. Murth didn't get home until 7 leaving me a good couple of hours to get all my pent-up angst out. _Good, should only take me twenty to thirty minutes anyway._

And sure enough, the moment I picked up my notebook and pen, I was able to vent.

All in all it was a not so bad day. If you ignore that fact that I was being held prisoner just a couple of hours ago.

And then the peace was shattered. Can you guess who came home about two hours early?

Murth. Oh, why must Satan love me so.

"HEY BRAT! What's this I hear about you joinin' some hero squad? You just lookin' to be put out on the streets?" His insanely loud, and very deep voice echoed throughout the house. It always amazed me how the moment my "father" got home, not only did the house become very very quiet, but my brothers and my mother seemed to disappear. _This is Aven calling for backup, __over._

Silence. Dead silence. _Thanks a lot family. Just you wait; I already know what I'm going to give y'all for __Christmas, a lump of coal._

"Well? Are you going to answer me or not!" And around the corner came the beast, "And you had better not lie to me either! Or else I'm taken it out on your hide!" Why must he shout everything? I'm in the same room as him for Pete's sake!

"Well then in that case, I shall say nothing." OK, that could have come out better.

And wait for it... Now!

I ducked under a huge bear paw comin' at me. I leaped up and ran around him. He spun around. He moves pretty fast for a guy of his size, let me tell you.

"Tisk tisk. Is that any way to treat a lady on her birthday?" I couldn't help it. All that really did was make the situation even worse.

"Ha! Why in the world would you celebrate the day that you were born you useless piece of-!"

He never got a chance to finish. Thank the Lord for birthday cake! For at that very moment my brother, no clue which one, decided to launch the cake into the air and managed to hit Murth right in the face.

It has always been a family tradition to launch our birthday cakes at the birthday person. One of the problems, though, is that my brothers both have horrible aim. And because of that, I was saved from the wrath of devil.

"Happy Birthday A!" cried out Logan. He was the youngest of my brothers and was only seven years old unlike Filip, who was 10.

"Thanks Log, I owe you one." the last part was whispered right into his ear. My brothers, unlike my dear mother (no sarcasm in case you're wondering), always tried to distract Murth when he had a bad day at work. I guess that today was one of those days.

"Don't call me that!" he whined. "And you can pay me back by giving me and Fil all of your desert from now till my birthday! 'Cause he helped too. How's that sound!" And just for me, he turned on the puppy eyes.

Now here's the thing about his eyes. He was born with these abnormally large eyes that are these big, watery brown that is so hard to say no to, it's not even funny. Trust me.

"Fine!" I hissed, "Now scat!"

He let out a giggle and ran for his life, just like I should be doing, riiiiiight... Now!

"And where do you think you're going?" Drat! One second too late! At least he's not yelling everything anymore. That's a plus.

"I was planning to head up to my room and read, as long as that's OK with you." Yes, my mouth was playing nice. Did I want to be nice to the scum bag, no. Did I want to bitch slap him into next week and beyond, yes.

"Not until we finish that little conversation we were having before we were so rudely interrupted."

_What conversation? It was more like you yelling and me dodging punches. _And once again common sense wins over mouth! Victory!

Instead, I simply nodded my head and raised one eye brow.

"I am willing to over look the little hero thing for now," cue shocked face, "But I do have one little question about last night."

And here it comes. The part about not coming home before curfew and what not. It really wasn't all that big a deal. I'd been breaking curfew for years now.

"How did the little talk with my personal friend Harley Quinn go?"

_What the-!_

* * *

_A/N: Sorry it's so short guys! I just figured that this would be a good place to stop for now. And this chapter did not like me, just like the last one. Stupid long-term writers block! And you want to know something? The smell of cat pee DOES NOT HELP! My cat decided to pee on my carpet yesterday and it smells so bad!_

_Oh! And if you guys wish to see the poem Aven wrote, check out my profile. I'll have it up there called Dormant. Hope you like!_

_And I do not own Walden Books. It's an actual place that I have been to many a time. Only problem is it closed down :'(_

_Word Counts:  
This Chapter: 2,618  
Total: 22,510_


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello._

_Yes, I am not dead….heh-heh…_

_If you follow my other story, Breaking Light, then you've already read my explanation. For those of you that don't, let's just chalk it up to MAJOR busyness. _

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 9:  
~Elena's POV~

After Aven went home for the day, citing that she was tired (which was perfectly reasonable, mind you), I realized how bad of a friend I was.

It was her birthday.

I couldn't quite remember why or when I came upon that information, but it didn't matter anymore, because today was her birthday and she had been tied to a pole for a significant portion of it.

And it was my fault we didn't get there sooner.

Sighing, I debated telling the others about Aven's birthday.

_She might hate you for it. _

Yeah, not gonna say anything._ I'll give her a present next time I see her._

"Hey, Elena! Wanna help me kick Rob's ass at this?" KF called from his spot in front of the television. Him and Grayson were playing some sort of video game, the latter clearly winning.

"No thanks, Wally. Robin's going to win anyway." I said with a polite smile, and made my way to my room.

I immediately picked my phone up from where I had dropped it on my bed and texted Aven.

_April 30, 11:42 AM:  
__  
Happy Birthday, A.  
Sorry it was kinda suckish.  
-E_

I set my phone down again and stared at the blank walls, debating on whether or not I was allowed to paint them, when a glinting silver object caught my eye. It was sitting seemingly innocently on my nightstand, but it hadn't been there this morning.

I tentatively picked it up. It was about the size of my thumb, with a little red button on the top. Curiosity suddenly took over and I pressed the red button. Everything went black for a split second, and then I was standing on the chrome floor of HQ.

"Oh, good! It works! Hello, sweetheart." My dad clapped his hands in excitement as he approached.

"What _is_ it?" I asked, inspecting it more carefully.

"Just a little something I've been working on. I've been doing research on the Zeta platforms, you know, and _that_ was the result of my findings."

I looked up at him, wide-eyed. "It's a teleporter?"

His face scrunched up a bit, and he made an _'eh'_ gesture.

"Sort of."

"Straight answer, dad."

"If my calculations are correct, it can only take you back and forth from your room at Mt Justice to here." He said with a heavy sigh.

"Wicked cool, dad. Can I keep it?"

"What do you think? See you later, sweetheart." And with that, he stepped into the Zeta tube and was gone.

I groaned in exasperation.

_Really?_ I thought ruefully at the place where he had disappeared. I trudged up the stairs, distracting my mind with plans to decorate my new home. Making my way into my bedroom, I quickly grabbed the things I had taken from Missouri, as well as a few shoe boxes from under my bed. Making sure I had everything in my hands, I pressed the button again.

I was back in my room at the mountain, my phone exactly where I left it. I dropped the shoe boxes on my bed and started putting away the clothes from my suitcase. I found that the bathroom was right next door. After a little inspection, it didn't seem to be a communal bathroom, so I quickly showered, changed into civvies, and combed my hair. I decided against re-braiding it, figuring I won't be seeing the team for the rest of the day.

I proceeded to spend the majority of the rest of the day holed up in my room, redecorating, until around dinnertime when I heard a knock on the door.

I went over and opened it reluctantly.

"Hey." It was Robin, dressed in civvies complete with dark sunglasses.

"Hi." I suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable. _What am I supposed to do now?_

"Mind if I come in?" Dick suggested, gracefully taking over the situation.

"Um, yeah. Sure." I opened the door wider and stepped aside, letting him through. "Don't mind the stuff on the floor." I added hurriedly.

"You've certainly taken this 'new home' thing in stride." He commented, a small smirk on his face as he looked around. I felt the heat creep up my neck.

"Yeah, well, the gray walls were boring." I responded sheepishly.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing to the walls. I nodded without really thinking about it.

Dick stepped up close to the nearest wall and began inspecting my photos. I had covered every spot on every wall that I could reach with the mounds of photographs that I had stored in the shoe boxes under my bed. Most of them I had taken, many had no significance except the fact that something looked pretty, but I put them all up anyway. I just needed to make the walls not-so-gray, and putting up hundreds of photographs seemed the fastest way.

Plus, I really didn't want to go out and buy paint.

I busied myself with packing up the remaining couple dozen photos back into the smallest shoe box when the Boy Wonder spoke again.

"Why didn't you put up those?" He asked, gesturing to the photos I was collecting.

"Mm, dunno. Some are just bad, I guess. But honestly I just couldn't reach up any higher in the places I wanted them to go." I said absent-mindedly, staring at the photo on the top of the pile.

It was of me, Dylan, my father, and Dylan's parents. My mother had taken the photo. Everyone was drenched, and we were standing in front of the gates of an amusement park. I was about nine, and perched on Dylan's shoulders. I remembered the day well, it was the first time I had ever gone somewhere like that.

"I can help, if you want." Dick snapped me out of my reverie, and I realized just how _close_ he was. My cheeks reddened, and I took a quick step away from him.

"Sure. Only – only if you don't mind." I stammered, running a hand through my hair.

_Shizzballs._ My hair was down.

I really, _really_ didn't like my hair down, and no one ever saw me with it down, not even in school pictures or whatever.

And here was Dick Grayson. Standing in my personal bubble, looking at my memories and me with my hair down.

How did _this_ happen?

I numbly instructed Robin where the images should go, and he took them and the photo-safe tape from my hands.

"Who's this?" He asked conversationally, pointing to the photo I had just been reminiscing over. I slowly walked over to see who exactly he was pointing to, debating on whether or not I should actually tell him.

He had his index finger next to Dylan. I sighed inwardly. _Might as well tell him, he'd figure it out anyway later if I didn't._

"That's my cousin, Dylan." A flicker of something passed across the ebony-haired boy's features as I spoke, but it was gone before I could decipher it.

"So that's your uncle? Batman said Fuse had a twin once. Is he…?" I shook my head as he trailed off.

"No. I don't even think he knows. I know Dylan doesn't." My companion nodded in understanding, then quickly finished the task I had given him.

"There you go." He said cheerily, handing me back the tape. I took it with a smile.

"Thanks. If I ever need something taped to a wall, I know who to call now." I teased. _Since when do you tease people? Let alone Robin, the Boy Wonder? _A tiny voice in the back of my mind demanded.

I chose to ignore it.

"You ever need anything, just lemme know." He responded lightly, but I got the unspoken '_I'm serious'_ tacked to the end.

"Got it. Thanks again, Rob." I said as he made his way to the door.

"Wally's making dinner, so you're guaranteed food, at least. We may have nothing left for tomorrow, though…" I chuckled.

"Cool. I'll be out in a little bit. I wanna finish unpacking and pull my hair up, first." I told him. He nodded and stepped through the doorway. I went to close it behind him, but suddenly his warm hand was wrapped around my upper arm.

"You know, you should wear your hair down more often. It looks nice." I blinked, opening my mouth to reply, _'no thanks, people always compare me to a doll when I leave it down, I don't like being compared to anything'_ but before I could even start, he was already turned around and heading down the hall. I felt myself blushing for what seemed like the thousandth time that afternoon.

I took a lock of white-blonde hair between my fingers and stared at it for a moment.

"Hey, Rob! Wait up!" I called at his retreating form. I shut my door behind me, running to catch up with him, my hair streaming out behind me.

"What happened to unpacking?" He asked, a mischievous lit in his voice. I shrugged.

"It can wait another couple hours." Dick draped a friendly arm over my shoulders.

"Don't wanna get lost." We said at the same time, and promptly dissolved into a fit of giggles.

We walked the rest of the way talking about nothing, Dick (almost) imperceptibly twirling a little strand of my hair between his fingers.

I pointedly ignored the butterflies in my stomach, though.

Because the fact that they were there at all terrified me.

* * *

_Ta-da!_

_Yeah, so hopefully things have calmed down enough to get back into the swing of things. _

_FYI, I have tumblr. Link on profile. Just thought I'd throw it out there…_

_Review if you so choose, and I hope you enjoyed!_

_Word Counts:  
This Chapter: 1,577  
Total: 24,087_

_SAHW,  
Vid._


	10. Chapter 10

_Hey ya'll! Sorry 'bout the long time between my last chapter and this one._

_Hope that this makes up for it!_

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 10:  
~Aven's POV~

After taking a nice long, uninterrupted nap, it didn't take long to pack up some needed items and get the heck out of Dodge.

And just so you know, no I was _not_ running away from an evil villain or my crazy dad. Well that last one might be a lie. He wasin one of his _strange_ moods. The mood that means he's acting strangely nice and sweet. Trust me, very, very scary.

Now I only have to figure out the answer to three very simple questions. Where I was going to go. What I was going to _eat _(I am so hungry! I haven't eaten in over 24 hours!). And last of all, where in the world would I keep my coffee! Warm ice coffee was so nasty! Trust me, do not try it.

The first question was an easy one to answer. The Cave would do for now. The second one would be easy too. Just snag some food at the Cave. They were bound to have _something_. Wally hung out there after all.

The last one was actually rather easy too. The fridge. Simple. As long as there was room in the fridge next to all of Wally's snacks.

And after that little debacle, there was only one last little thing.

I had no friggin' idea where the Zeta tubes were. And we weren't exactly within walking distance of Happy Harbor.

_Buzzzzzz._

_April 30, 11:42 AM: __  
__  
__Happy Birthday, A. __  
__Sorry it was kinda suckish.__  
__-E_

_Trust her to remember. Although if she tells anyone, she is so dead._

No really. I hate having people fuss over me. And presents are way to, um what's the word? Oh screw this! You get my point right? Presents bother me.

Though knowing El, she would have something to give me. As long as the others didn't know.

_Ding ding ding! Idea! Now where's that number..._

_April 30, 11:50 AM:_

_Hey Black Canary  
__Its Black Areo  
__Where's the Zeta thingys?  
__-BA_

And in case you're wondering, BA does not stand for Black Areo. It stands for Bad Ass. Yeah, totally (rolls eyes at all of you stupid enough to believe me).

And now to kill time.

_Alright brain, time to start listing options._

_1: Kick some ass._

Yeah 'cause that ended well last time.

_2: Library/book store._

Not feeling the need to read today. Shocking right?

_3: Sleep._

Thanks brain. So many options (sarcasm).

_You asked._

Oh shut it.

_Fine, then think of something yourself, you nitwit._

"This is so stupid." I'm arguing with my _brain!_

That just proves how sad my life really is.

**~BLACK AREO~**

Ten minutes later, and I was still debating the wonderfully creative ideas presented by my brain.

Only to be interrupted by a very bothersome buzzing in my pocket.

_April 30, 12:03 PM:_

_Hey so glad that you asked  
__For Gotham try  
__W12__th__ and Ave.K  
__an old phone booth  
__See you soon!  
__-BC_

Joy to the world! What would I do without Black Canary?

Die, that's what.

Now then, I just need to find a map and...Ha! There's one! Only a couple of blocks to the Zeta thingy. Sweet.

Too bad I wasn't bored enough to actually head on over yet. And not that hungry yet, but getting there. After all, I hadn't eaten in a day. Good thing I'm use to only eating dinner. Not that I can't eat other meals! It's just that I never get hungry or any such thing.

Now I'm back to square one. Or was it square two? Eh, doesn't matter. Either way I have to find something to do. And the natural chose in this matter is...kick the crap out of someone. Not a villain, I've had enough of them for a while. A girl can only take so many hits to the head before she loses it, and I've already reached mine.

So, that left only a small number of willing punchin- I mean, sparring partners. And all of them just so happen to be conveniently placed in the same general area. The Cave.

One quick change of clothes later, and I was really for some _contained_ action. Complete with lovely dark sunglasses and a hoodie. Oh, and don't forget my very new - and very cheap - Vans. Nothin' too special.

Of course, as previously stated, I was bored. So naturally I took my time getting to the Zeta tube. A quick stop at the book store to pre-order a book coming out in a couple of days; a glance at the wonderful and amazing new computers out on display; and a rather slow stop for the wonderful substance called ice cream.

Bye the time I was done with my little escapade, it was around four.

_Time to get my butt over there before some other troublesome baddy tries to conk me over the head._

'_I'm always watching, my little goodie. Remember that OK?'_

Yup, it's defiantly time to get going if I'm hearing psychotic clown voices in my head.

**~BLACK AREO~**

"_Black Areo, B0-"_

"Yeah, yeah we get it already you damn computer." Seriously, how can they live with that voice? It would drive me crazy!

_Whoosh!_

"Hey sweet thing! What are you doing here?"

"Get off her Baywatch. Can't you see that she wants nothing to do with you?" And it's Artemis to the rescue!

"Not to be rude or anything Black Areo," I turned away from the now arguing supers to the tall dark and almost-bald guy standing five feet away, "but why are you here? I thought that you didn't care for us?" Come on brain, think! What was his name again? Kelp? No. Aqualad? Well, that was right but not his really name. Oh God what is it?!

"Oh just thought I'd stop in and check out the Cave for myself. Oh, and little piece of advice, just saying 'not to be rude' and stuff like that, doesn't make it not rude."

The look on their faces was so funny. Who doesn't love double negatives?

"Oh! Black Areo! I didn't know that you would be here today! Would you like to come and bake a cake with me? I just got done cleaning up after lunch and I was planning one making something for dessert." Megan floated in, thankfully saving me from the slightly awkward silence I'd created.

"Um, no thanks Megan. I suck at baking, cooking, and anything having to do with the kitchen. Unless you want to have a pile of ash for dessert, that is."

"Oh, okay then," Her face fell slightly, "I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need me!" Wow talk about mood swings. Hyper to disappointed to happy all in about ten seconds.

"I was actually wondering if any of you guys would like to spare with me? I feel to need to kick some ass, but I really don't feel like being held hostage in a warehouse for a whole day." I made sure to give a pointed look. One eyebrow raised, and an emotionless face make it so easy to cause others discomfort.

Another awkward silence.

Who knew that they would be so much fun to tease? If El had told me sooner, I would have joined right away!

"I will!" Wally finally said. I let my eyebrow fall and looked at him blankly.

"No offense, but I was hoping to fight someone with a bit more, how to put this, skill than you." I smirked ever so slightly at his shocked face.

"Oh, she got you good Baywatch. How 'bout me? Will I do?" Artemis' face shifted from teasing to guarded in a matter of seconds. Well I guess it's to be expected. We didn't really meet on the best of terms.

"Hell yeah. Let's go, Princess."

The overall fight went something like this.

Artemis started by throwing a punch at my face. I dodged to the left and jumped over her leg as she attempted to sweep my legs out from under me.

I back flipped away and dodged another punch. This time I delivered a round house kick to her shoulder. She stumbled away and swung another fist at me. This one sailed past my face, missing by an inch. She used the momentum and aimed a round house kick at my head. It hit my shoulder. Using the hit, I cart-wheeled away and then charged back at her.

Then the funniest thing happened. Loud, very distracting clapping echoed from my left causing my fist – which had been making its way to Artemis' face – to swerve. Instead of hitting her, it grazed her shoulder. I stumbled forward and ended up crashing into her. One second, we were both standing and next thing I knew, the holo-thingy announced _"Artemis: Fail"._

"Hey! No fair! That was a total foul!"

"Tough luck, Princess. You heard the all-knowing computer. It said that I won and you lose." I rolled off of Artemis before she had a chance to punch me in the face for that comment.

"Ha! That was priceless! Great job guys!" Wally's laughter interrupted whatever Artemis was about to say.

"If Robin hadn't distracted me, I so would have won." Artemis frowned.

"Yeah right. There was no way that you would have won."

"Girls, girls. Calm down." We both turned and glared at Robin.

"Shut up, Boy Blunder!" We both shouted.

"Can't you see we're trying to solve something here?" Artemis picked herself up off the floor.

"How 'bout this? We'll have a rematch later? Right now I feel like I'm going to die of hunger." I accepted Kaldur's hand and, with his hand, pulled myself up off the floor.

"Well we do have quite a bit of food thanks to Kid Mouth over there. I'm sure that he won't mind if you have some." Robin offered.

"Hey! That's my food! You can't just give it away without asking me first!" Wally's complaints fell on deaf ears as we made our way to the kitchen.

After another hour of eating and talking, well they all talked I was just listening and stuffing my face, Megan finally started to prepare dinner.

All in all it smelled amazing. And it was my favorite! Spaghetti. With Meatballs. Yum.

"I'm gonna go get Elena. She's been locked up in her room all day." And with that, Robin was gone. One second there, and the next gone. It was kinda creepy. Wish I was that good.

"So, Areo."

"So Wally."

"Might I ask-"

"No you may not." I had to fight to keep the smirk off my face. Too easy.

"But-"

"Nope."

"As much I like listening to you two argue, would you please stop." And the Boy of Steel speaks. Funny, I thought it was going to be a more...enjoyable experience.

"I was just going to ask why she was wearing sunglasses! And why we can't know her name. And-"

"Shut up already!"

"A- Black Areo! What are you doing here?" And saved my the...Elena? Can't say the bell that would be mean, and strange.

"Hey E. What have you-" Her hair was...down? "Hey Doll. What's up?"

"How many times have I told you, don't call me that. And I don't look like a doll!" I stifled a laugh.

"I never said that you did."

"All right guys! Eat up!"

And let the torturous evening begin.

* * *

_A/N: Hey, there is nothing special at all 'bout this chapter. Just a filler chapter. And a badly written one at that. I had writers block half way through so sorry if it sucks._

_Word Count: __  
__This Chapter: __1,897__  
__Total:__ 25,984_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hi. Here is the long-awaited chapter 11. Enjoy._

Darkness: Chapter 11:  
~Elena's POV~

* * *

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to strangle Aven or not.

She just _had_ to make the doll comment. For the rest of dinner, she and Wally used it every time they could. They even convinced Megan that I _liked_ it. As if I would actually _like_ being compared to a Barbie or something.

Needless to say, she totally was _not_ getting a birthday present. Mostly because I kinda didn't get her one (remember, I was in my room all day) but ALSO OUT OF SPITE.

The up side was that I got to sit next to Dick. And that he would give his best Bat-glare at whoever called me "Doll". Or "Barbie". Wally seemed to enjoy that one immensely. All in all, I was so _totally_ ready to cut my hair off and/or crawl into my room for a week by the end of dinner.

Then Artemis suggested we watch a movie. And apparently, it was Wally's turn to pick. Which _really _made me uncomfortable.

Why, you may ask?

Wally chose a horror movie.

Now don't get me wrong, I had no problem fighting villains straight out of a Hitchcock film, or Friday the 13th, or a Stephen King or whatever, but when it came to _watching_ one? I could only get through _Rear Window._ And _Rebecca,_ but just barely. Forget this crazy ass shit that Kid Idiot had picked out. There was no feasible way for me to sit all the way through the movie. And you bet your ass I wasn't gonna sleep for at least two days.

But did I protest?

Of course not.

I just plastered on a fake smile and sat down at the furthest-from-the-television end of the sectional, playing with the ends of my hair. The others quickly settled in as well, Wally turning off the lights and popping in the film. I felt the cushion sink down next to me as the DVD player began to whizz to life. Looking over, I saw Dick silhouetted in the darkness. His attention seemed to be focused on the opening sequence of the film, all black and ominous. I could make out the shadows of the killer, though. Curse my enhanced night vision. I focused my gaze on the ends of my hair, twirling the strands between my fingers and trying my best to block out the victim's blood-curdling screams.

"Are you okay?" Dick whispered in my ear, breath hot on my neck. It took all I had not to jump out of my skin. I shook my head no, not bothering to wonder whether or not he would be able to see it. Of course he would. He's the Boy Wonder.

"Stay traught, okay? I'm right here. And if you need to leave, just morph and go. I'll cover for you." He said, barely audible over the booming of the surround sound (because of _course _the Cave has surround sound. That makes it so much _easier_ to block out the scary). I nodded again and pulled my knees up to my chin. I felt a slender arm drape around my shoulders. Closing my eyes, I buried my face in my knees and tried to focus on Robin's fingers playing with a strand of my hair, and _not _the murderer on the flat screen.

"Credits rolling." Dick whispered some two hours later, the weight of his arm leaving my shoulders. I lifted my head just in time for Wally to turn on the lights.

"Wanna watch another?" He asked excitedly. M'gann quickly declined and practically flew to her room – probably her first earth horror movie experience. I also slipped off the couch, muttering a lame excuse about being tired before walking as calmly as I could to my room.

Once there, I slammed the door shut behind me and hid myself underneath my fluffy orange quilt. Sleep's long fingers grasped my mind as soon as my eyelids slid closed.

_The room was covered in blood. The warm, sticky fluid oozed down the walls, pooling on the floor. It was all over me. I felt it matted in my hair, streaked across my face, my arms, my stomach. It seeped into my boots. _

_A brownish lump in the corner caught my eye. I quickly slipped and skidded my way over to it, bending down to get a closer look. It morphed from an ambiguous form to that of a man. Specifically, a tanned, brown-haired man, staring lifelessly at the ceiling with chocolate brown eyes._

_Dylan._

"_No!" I screeched, falling to my knees beside my cousin. I reached out towards his neck, to try and find his pulse, to do __**something**__ that would convince my brain that what I was seeing wasn't true, that he wasn't dead. But as soon as the pads of my fingers reached his cold neck, he disappeared._

"_Dylan?" My voice broke, hot, salty tears blurring my vision, "Dylan, where are you? Help!" _

_I stood up again, ignoring the blood – Dylan's blood – soaking through the material of my pants. I blinked the tears from my eyes and started walking in a random direction, but I didn't seem to be moving anywhere. The blood-soaked room just stretched on and on, every step I took seeming pointless. I broke into a run, calling for help, calling for someone – anyone – to come help me. I tripped over something squishy and tumbled over it, landing on my butt. I twisted around to see what it was that had caused my fall, only to come face-to-face with crystal blue eyes._

_A pair of __**sightless**__ crystal blue eyes._

_Dick._

"_No! No, No, No, __**NO!**__" __I screamed at the top of my lungs until my voice was hoarse, then screamed some more. I gripped Dick's shoulders, tears streaming down my face._

"_No. No, you can't leave." I sobbed, throat raw._

"_El." _

"_No."_

"_El."_

"_No."_

"_El!"_

"_No!"_

"**Elena!**" I jolted upright, my eyes snapping open. I felt sweat trickling down the back of my neck. My chest heaved with the effort of bringing oxygen back into my lungs.

"It's okay, you're okay, it was just a nightmare. It wasn't real." A male voice soothed from my left, a calloused hand gently pushing the hair out of my face. It was a familiar voice. The same voice that had been calling my name in my dream – when Dick –

_Dick!_

"Oh, thank God." I breathed, flinging my arms around his neck. The ebony-haired boy's body tensed for a moment, but then his arms were encircling my waist, and he was hugging me back.

"It wasn't real." He said again, a bit softer. I just clung to him. He was shaking. Why was he shaking?

Oh, wait.

_I _was shaking.

"What happened?" I mumbled into the cloth of his shirt, surprised at the dryness of my own throat.

"The movie ended. I was gonna go home, but I decided to check on you first. That's when I heard you shouting in your sleep. You kept saying 'no'. I tried to wake you up. What happened?" Robin explained calmly, arms still wrapped around me. I shuddered, and he tightened his grip.

"I had a nightmare. There was blood everywhere. And Dylan was dead. And I was running. And then you were there. And you were –" my voice broke, "you were d-dead." I buried my face into the crook of his neck and tried desperately to get the blood-soaked images of Dick's lifeless body out of my mind.

He smoothed my hair down my back, "But I'm right here. I'm not dead. It wasn't _real_, Elena. It was a horror-movie-induced nightmare. I'm alive, Dylan's alive, there's nothing to be afraid of." His confident words of assurance had an immediate effect on me; I felt my all-consuming fear ebb away.

"Thank you." I spoke finally, pulling away enough to look at him in the blackness of my room. The only slivers of light came from t the dull glow of the moon through my curtains and the recess light of the hallway – my door was still _just barely_ cracked open. At some point after entering my room he had taken off his sunglasses, and I could clearly see the blue of his eyes.

He was right there.

It was just a nightmare.

"Do you want me to stay?" He said, not letting go of me and not breaking eye contact. I ignored the feeling in my stomach.

"If you wouldn't mind." I replied timidly. He detached himself and got up, taking a few long strides to the door, closing it, and then coming back. I sat up in bed and scooted over as he slipped off his shoes.

"Do you have nightmares a lot?" Batman's protégé asked as he lay down on top of my quilt. I averted my gaze.

"Sometimes." I told him, and he made a humming sound before slipping an arm around my shoulders, pulling me a little closer to him.

I stared at the ceiling for a long while, "Sorry if I scared you."

"Go to sleep." He urged softly, neither accepting nor declining my apology. I let my eyes slid closed again; quickly falling asleep to the sound of Dick's steady breathing.

I had the best night's sleep of my life.

* * *

_Well, honestly, it took so long cause I was stuck with where to go. Then I had a similar nightmare the other night (with different people, obviously, and I woke myself up, and I don't scream in my sleep, but you get my point) and thought – I can use this! _

_I hope you enjoyed. _

_Word Counts:  
This Chapter: 1,545  
Total: 27,529_

_SAHW,  
Vid._


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